Welcome back. This past weekend we had 2 matches. The first was Sunday against Tufts. We left early from Williamstown for the 2 1/2 hour drive to Boston only to arrive to rainy and cold weather. The Tufts indoor facility consisted of 4 decent courts on what can only be described as a tennis rug. The other 2 courts were extremely fast and in a part of the building that was extremely hot for no apparent reason. The doubles started off with quick wins for us at 2 and 3. At #1, Bret and Dicken served extremely well but had a few loose games and fell in a tiebreaker. In singles, we lost at #6 and I went 3 sets at number 2. Everyone else won in straight sets to give us a solid 7-2 victory.
Sunday was the big match against Amherst. Weather conditions were unclear as we prepared to leave Sunday morning. Due to cold temperatures, wind, and a chance of rain the match was ultimately decided to be played at the Hampshire College tennis center. The center has 4 real hard courts and was nicer than the Mt. Holyoke facility which is Amherst's usual backup. As warm-ups came to a close, the Amherst home crowd arrived outnumbering our fans about 100 to 8. Before going into details of the match, I want to thank our Williams families and friends who attended the match. The atmosphere was electric and tense as the doubles got under way. At #2, Nick and Will played a great match and won quickly. It certainly took some of the pressure off Kevin and I at #3, and we were able to break serve up 7-6 to win our match. Bret and Dicken fell in a close 8-5 match to wrap up the doubles with Williams up 2-1.
Because there were only 4 courts, #1-4 hit the courts after the doubles ended. The first match off was Petrie, who for the first time all season went down to tie the match at 2-2. After going down 4-1 in the first, Rick came back to take the set and ultimately won the 2nd set 7-6 to give us a 3-2 lead. Nick and I both won our 1st sets and then went on to split. I served for my match at 5-4 in the 2nd and let it slip away and ultimately lost in 3. Nick lost an extremely tough and tense battle 7-5 in the 3rd giving Amherst a 4-3 edge. That left Kevin and Bret on court. Bret, playing in his first dual match of the season, was unable to break down his opponent and went down in straight sets clinching the match for Amherst. Kevin split and since the match was already decided, played a super breaker which he won to make the match 5-4 for Amherst.
The day was long and emotionally draining. For the second year in a row we lost in a battle to our biggest rival. On a personal note, it never feels good to serve for your match and then lose, but it felt even worse to watch the team go on to lose 5-4 when I know my match was on my racket. Although we were all a bit down right after the match, we were optimistic in knowing that it was a match that we should have won, and will win when we get our next shot at them. This coming weekend we hit the core of our NESCAC schedule. We have matches Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Wednesday which will certainly be a test of our fitness and focus. Since I'm posting Wednesday this week, I'll do the same next week after our match on Wednesday against Trinity.
Until next week,
Jeremy
Sunday was the big match against Amherst. Weather conditions were unclear as we prepared to leave Sunday morning. Due to cold temperatures, wind, and a chance of rain the match was ultimately decided to be played at the Hampshire College tennis center. The center has 4 real hard courts and was nicer than the Mt. Holyoke facility which is Amherst's usual backup. As warm-ups came to a close, the Amherst home crowd arrived outnumbering our fans about 100 to 8. Before going into details of the match, I want to thank our Williams families and friends who attended the match. The atmosphere was electric and tense as the doubles got under way. At #2, Nick and Will played a great match and won quickly. It certainly took some of the pressure off Kevin and I at #3, and we were able to break serve up 7-6 to win our match. Bret and Dicken fell in a close 8-5 match to wrap up the doubles with Williams up 2-1.
Because there were only 4 courts, #1-4 hit the courts after the doubles ended. The first match off was Petrie, who for the first time all season went down to tie the match at 2-2. After going down 4-1 in the first, Rick came back to take the set and ultimately won the 2nd set 7-6 to give us a 3-2 lead. Nick and I both won our 1st sets and then went on to split. I served for my match at 5-4 in the 2nd and let it slip away and ultimately lost in 3. Nick lost an extremely tough and tense battle 7-5 in the 3rd giving Amherst a 4-3 edge. That left Kevin and Bret on court. Bret, playing in his first dual match of the season, was unable to break down his opponent and went down in straight sets clinching the match for Amherst. Kevin split and since the match was already decided, played a super breaker which he won to make the match 5-4 for Amherst.
The day was long and emotionally draining. For the second year in a row we lost in a battle to our biggest rival. On a personal note, it never feels good to serve for your match and then lose, but it felt even worse to watch the team go on to lose 5-4 when I know my match was on my racket. Although we were all a bit down right after the match, we were optimistic in knowing that it was a match that we should have won, and will win when we get our next shot at them. This coming weekend we hit the core of our NESCAC schedule. We have matches Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Wednesday which will certainly be a test of our fitness and focus. Since I'm posting Wednesday this week, I'll do the same next week after our match on Wednesday against Trinity.
Until next week,
Jeremy
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