MEDFORD, MA. – Williams men’s tennis opened up conference play with a decisive 7-2 victory over #30 Tufts (8-5, 2-4), nabbing their first NESCAC victory of the spring season. The #5 Ephs (6-2, 1-0) will face a large test tomorrow when they travel to archrival Amherst tomorrow for an 11:30 a.m. start. The Lord Jeffs are currently ranked #7 in Division III.
The Ephs had a good warm up for what is sure to be stiff competition in the NESCAC, as there are currently seven ranked teams in the conference. Williams started off strong, taking two of the three doubles matches, while their number one doubles pair fell in a hard-fought tiebreaker.
On the whole, singles play was dominant, particularly in the middle of the lineup where Rick Devlin, Will Petrie, and Kevin Shallcross deliv ered routine straight set victories. Nick Lebedoff also won in two sets at court one, but had to stave off his rallying Tufts opponent in a second set tiebreak. He closed out the victory, 6-2, 7-6 (7-2).
Jeremy Weinberger was successful in a rally of his own at court two, pulling out of a one set hole to knock off his opponent in the third set by a lopsided 6-1 margin. Ari Binder suffered a straight set loss at court six to total the 7-2 overall match result.
“It is always good to get off a good start in the conference,” commented Williams’ head coach Dave Donn. an> “We hope to build off each match to play our best when it counts most.”
Williams 7, Tufts 2
Doubles-
1) Kai Victoria/Jake Fountain (T) def. Bret Thacher/Dicken Chapin --- 9-8 (7-5)
2) Nick Lebedoff/Will Petrie (W) def. Daniel Landers/Paul Kohnstamm (T) --- 8-3
3) Jeremy Weinberger/Kevin Shallcross (W) def. Morrie Bossen/Jon Trott (T) – W 8-4
Singles-
1) Lebedoff (W) def. Fountain (T) --- 6-2, 7-6 (7-2)
2) Weinberger (W) def. Andrew Rosen (T) --- 3-6, 6-3, 6-1
3) Rick Devlin (W) def. Tony Carucci (T) --- 6-2, 6-2
4) Petrie (W) def. Garrett Schuman (T) --- 6-1, 6-0
5) Shallcross (W) def. Sam Laber (T) --- 6-4, 6-2
6) Bryan Wilner (T) def. Ari Binder (W) --- 6-4, 6-3
