2009 NCAA Div. III Men's Tennis Tournament
(First, Second and Third Round matches at Williams, May 8-10)
Friday, May 8th
2 PM — UMass-Dartmouth 5, Neumann 1
Saturday, May 9th
2 PM — Williams 5, UMass-Dartmouth 0
5 PM — Bowdoin 5, Vassar 0
Sunday, May 10th
3 PM — Williams 5, Bowdoin 1
Ephs take regional final, advance to NCAA Quarterfinals
WILLIAMSTOWN, MA. – The Williams men’s tennis team (14-5) advanced to their thirteenth consecutive NCAA Quarterfinals over Bowdoin College (12-8), 5-1. Fighting against windy weather and chilly conditions, senior captain Karol Furmaga won the decisive fifth point at court six over Bowdoin’s Josh Cranin, 6-3, 7-5.
“It is a great feeling right now,” said William’s head coach Dave Donn. “I’m very happy for our seniors. It’s a great accomplishment for them to have reached the Elite 8 for four straight years, and it is a testament to all their hard work. This win was for our seniors today.”
The Ephs took a 2-1 lead out of doubles play. Bowdoin’s number one pair of Jamie Neely and Oscar Pena took charge at court one over Dicken Chaplin and Bret Thacher, defeating the Williams pair, 8-1. Jeremy Weinberger and Kevin Shallcross delivered a win at court three, 8-3, to even the score while Nick Lebedoff and Will Petrie muscled out a 9-7 win over their Bowdoin counterparts at court two.
Freshman Kevin Shallcross had another speedy win at court five over Neely, 6-2. 6-4. Another senior captain, Rick Devlin, contributed with a win at court three over Alex Caughron, 6-4, 6-3, before Furmaga iced the win.
“We knew Bowdoin was going to be tough coming in,” continued Donn. “It was a tough match and they fight to the last point, so we needed to stay focused from the first point to the last and we kept our composure and played well.”
Williams will head to California to take on UC Santa Cruz on Tuesday, May 19. UC Santa Cruz is currently ranked third in the nation, while Williams is ranked eighth.
Williams 5, Bowdoin 1
Doubles-
1) Pena/Neely (B) def. Chaplin/Thacher (W) --- 8-1
2) Lebedoff/Petrie (W) def. Sullivan/Caughron (B) --- 9-7
3) Weinberger/Shallcross (W) def. White/Cranin (B) --- 8-3
Singles-
1) Nick Lebedoff (W) vs. Stephan Sullivan (B) --- 6-2, 1-6, 3-3
2) Jeremy Weinberger (W) led Oscar Pena (B) --- 6-4, 4-6, 5-2
3) Rick Devlin (W) def. Alex Caughron (B) --- 6-4, 6-3
4) Will Petrie (W) led Alex White (B) --- 7-6(8), 5-4
5) Kevin Shallcross (W) def. Jamie Neely (B) --- 6-2, 6-4
6) Karol Furmaga (W) def. Josh Cranin (B) --- 6-3, 7-5
Bowdoin to
face Williams in regional final
WILLIAMSTOWN, MA. – Bowdoin (12-6) has advanced to the regional final of the NCAA tournament over Vassar (11-9), 5-0. Although the Polar Bears did not lose a match, the doubles matches were highly contested.
Oscar Pena and Jamie Neely took on Mike Mattelson and Jeremy Rosen of Vassar and battled to a tiebreak. Pena and Neely turned up the heat when it counted most, and dominated in the tiebreak, taking the match 9-8(2). Bowdoin took a win at court two, while at court three, another tight match took place. Alex White and Josh Cranin took a break, and that’s all it took to take the match, 9-7. Pena and White took straight set wins at courts two and four, respectively. Pena defeated Max Willner, 6-4, 6-3, while White dealt Josh Jasso a 6-3, 6-2 loss.
The No. 11 Polar Bears will take on No. 8 Williams College tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. The two teams played in the regular season on April 18. Williams won 6-3.
Bowdoin 5, Vassar 0
Doubles-
.25in;">1) Pena/Neely (B) def. Mattelson/Rosen (V) --- 9-8(2)
2) Sullivan/Caughron (B) def. Willner/Katz (V) --- 8-5
3) White/Cranin (B) def. Jasso/Shane Donahue (V) --- 9-7
Singles-
1) Stephan Sullivan (B) vs. Mike Mattelson (V) --- 7-5, 4-6
2) Oscar Pena (B) def. Max Willner (V) --- 6-4, 6-3
3) Greg Katz (V) led Alex Caughron (B) --- 7-5, 3-4
4) Alex White (B) def. Josh Jasso (V) --- 6-3, 6-2
5) Jamie Neely (B) vs. Shane Donahue (V) --- did not start
6)
Josh Cranin (B) vs. Jeremy Rosen (V) --- did not start
Ephs move past U Mass Dartmouth into 3rd round, 5-0
WILLIAMSTOWN, MA. – Regional host Williams College (13-5) advanced to the third round of the NCAA tournament over University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth (13-2). The Corsairs won their first match in NCAA tournament history yesterday versus Neumann College, but eighth-ranked Williams cut their run short with a 5-0 win this afternoon.
“I give U Mass a lot of credit,” sa id Williams’ head coach Dave Donn. “Congratulations to them on a great season.”
Williams had the advantage from the get go, sweeping all three doubles matches. Jeremy Weinberger and Kevin Shallcross finished off their opponents, 8-3, while Dicken Chaplin and Bret Thacher teamed up at court one to defeat their Corsair counterparts, 8-5. Nick Lebedoff and Will Petrie rounded out the 3-0 lead with an 8-6 win at court two.
Singles play was short-lived as the two freshman from Williams, Will Petrie and Kevin Shallcross, put forth dominant efforts at courts four and five. Neither player lost a single game, taking their matches 6-0, 6-0. Shallcross finished fi rst over Ken Sims, while Petrie sealed the deal for the Ephs a few minutes later over Zach Engstrom.
“I expect us to play every point like we are down match point,” continued Donn. “We need to bring intensity and focus to each match, all nine spots need to be focused for us to be successful in the rest of the tournament.”
The Ephs look to continue their success tomorrow against the winner of the Bowdoin/Vassar match up at 3:00.
Williams 5, U Mass Dartmouth 0
Doubles-
1) Chaplin/Thatcher (W) def. Pandolfi/Rathlev (UMD) --- 8-5
2) Petrie/Lebedoff (W) def. Viau/Forster (UMD) --- 8-6
3) Weinberger/Shallcross (W) def. Sims/Brian Lui (UMD) --- 8-3
Singles-
1) Nick Lebedoff (W) led Mason Viau (UMD) --- 6-0, 2-1
2) Jeremy Weinberger (W) led Troy Pandolfi (UMD) --- 6-4, 2-2
3) Rick Devlin (W) led Karsten Rathlev (UMD) --- 6-2
4) Will Petrie (W) def. Zach Engstrom (UMD) --- 6-0, 6-0
5) Kevin Shallcross (W) def. Ken Sims (UMD) --- 6-0, 6-0
6)
Karol Furmaga (W) led Christoph Forster (UMD) --- 6-1, 3-1
UMass-Dartmouth advances past Neumann, 5-1, into second round
WILLIAMSTOWN, MA. – U Mass Dartmouth (12-1), winner of the Little East conference championship, took well to its first appearance in the NCAA tournament in program history, defeating Neumann College (15-3), 5-1. The Knights of Neumann won their second straight Colonial States Athletic Conference before falling to the Corsairs this afternoon on the campus of Williams College.
The Corsairs took the top two doubles matches, while Neumann tallied a point at court three when Greg Bridgeman and Steve Klenk defeated Ken Sims and Brian Liu, 8-2.
UMass-Dartmouth would proceed to take the first three singles wins to advance to the second round of the tournament. Karsten Rathlev grabbed an easy win at court three in a 6-1, 6-1 win, while teammate Mason Viau also won in solid straight sets at court one. Chris Forster nabbed the necessary fifth point to seal the deal, but had to battle through a tiebreak with Neumann’s Steve Klenk to do so. Forster pulled out the win, 6-3, 7-6(3).
UMass-Dartmouth will take on host Williams tomorrow at 2:00 p.m.
U MASS DARTMOUTH 5, NEUMANN 1
Doubles-
1) Pandolfi/Rathlev (UMD) def. Pfister/Crispin (N) --- 8-3
2) Viau/Forster (UMD) def. Brown/Harnos (N) – 8-6
3) Bridgeman/Klenk (N) def. Sims/Brian Lui (UMD) --- 8-2
Singles-
1) Mason Viau (UMD) def. David Pfister (N) --- 6-4, 6-1
2) Troy Pandolfi (UMD) led Chris Brown (N) --- 6-2, 1-6, 2-1
3) Karsten Rathlev (UMD) def. Brian Crispin (N) --- 6-0, 6-1
4) Greg Bridgeman (N) def. Zach Engstrom (UMD) --- 6-4, 7-5
5) Ken Sims (UMD) led Dan Harnos (N) --- 7-6(3), 3-3
6) Chris Forster (UMD) def. Steve Klenk (N) --- 6-3, 7-6(3)
