WILLIAMSTOWN, MA. – Williams men’s tennis (2-3) picked up their second straight win of the season, defeating #25 Vassar (12-2) in their first home match of the spring, 8-1.
The Ephs dipped in the recent ITA College Tennis Rankings from #7 to #12 after posting a 1-3 record against difficult competition during spring break, but have rebounded nicely with a recent win over Swarthmore and this afternoon’s victory over the Brewers.
The Ephs battled through some close-knit matches in both doubles and singles play. While Williams’ Felix Sun and Trey Meyer dealt with their opponents easily at court three, the number one and two doubles pairs played to tiebreaks. Will Petrie and Bryan Chow picked up the second doubles point in a 7-3 breaker, while Dicken Chaplin and Nick Lebedoff fell by a 9-7 breaker at court one.
“I was very proud of our doubles play today,” said Greenberg. “Our one and two teams dug themselves out of early holes, and that saved the day. The match could have been a very different story if we had lost those matches, because if you get down early in doubles it’s always tough to bring it back and we did that today.”
Vassar challenged the Ephs in the singles ladder as well. The Brewers’ number one player, Mike Mattelson, pushed Lebedoff to two tiebreaks. The Williams senior captain proved resilient though, winning by easy margins in both breakers.
“We knew they [Vassar] were a better team than before,” commented Greenberg. “They are the best that I have seen as a player or coach. Not only are they better players but they believe they can win, and came in expecting to win.”
Sun, Chow, and Zach Weiss won in straight sets at courts two, five, and six, respectively. Jeremy Weinberger and Petrie were involved in three-setters against their Vassar counterparts. Weinberger fell in the first set, but rallied for two quick final sets to finish off his match 3-6, 6-2, 6-1. Petrie won his first set, but lost serve early in the second allowing Vassar’s Max Willner to crawl back into the match. The Williams sophomore came back strong in the final set to win in three.
Williams will travel to Skidmore tomorrow. First serve is set for 12:30 p.m.
Williams 8, Vassar 1
Doubles:
1) Ben Guzick/Andrew Guzick (V) def. Dicken Chaplin/Nick Lebedoff (W) --- 9-8 (7)
2) Will Petrie/Bryan Chow (W) def. Mike Mattelson/Max Willner (V) --- 9-8 (3)
3) Felix Sun/Trey Meyer (W) def. Josh Jasso/Greg Katz (V) --- 8-3
Singles:
2) Sun (W) def. B. Guzick (V) --- 6-3, 6-3
3) Weinberger (W) def. A. Guzick (V) --- 3-6, 6-2, 6-1
4) Petrie (W) def. Willner (V) --- 6-4, 3-6, 6-2
5) Chow (W) def. Katz (V) --- 6-4, 6-2
6) Zach Weiss (W) def. Jeremy Arthur (V) --- 6-0, 6-1
