The bobcats fared well on Friday and got wins out of 3 first-years. Audrey Grauer, playing in her first college match, beat her Rochester opponent 6-1 6-0 as she relentlessly attacked the net and gutted out many long deuce games. Ali Hakusui got her feet wet and also beat her Rochester opponent 6-1 6-0 in convincing fashion. Keenan Brent beat her Wellesley opponent 6-2 6-4 as she transitioned well off of short balls and worked hard for every game.

Saturday started with doubles and the bobcats performed very well, getting better with each match. First-years Ali and Audrey won two matches, knocking off Rochester and Wellesley teams. Meg and Elena knocked off a highly ranked Rochester pairing and lost a heartbreaker to Wellesley in a great effort. Lucy and Jacqui beat another Rochester pairing in their second match as well. Erika and Kristen came up short in their matches, but all three were very close, 8-5 being their largest deficit and they played very well.

In singles, Kristen got on the board taking out her Rochester opponent 6-1 6-2, attacking at every opportunity and keeping her foot on the gas. Audrey won her second singles match of the weekend 6-1 6-2, showing the poise of a seasoned veteran.

On Sunday Erika started off the morning with a battle. She got down quick 6-2 before making some adjustments and gritting out the second set 6-1. In the tie-breaker she got down 5-2 and then down two match points 9-7. However, she would not be denied and committed to working for every ball and ripping it big to safe targets. She won 5 of the next 6 points and was clutch under pressure to seal the win over Rochester. She had a second match and won this one convincingly 6-1 6-0. Kristen also had a tough one against her Wellesley opponent and after losing the first set 6-3, she came back to win the second set 6-1 and the breaker 10-5.

Overall it was a great weekend for the bobcats. We played three teams ranked ahead of us and had some very strong results. For only our second tournament of the year it was very promising. Our doubles improved with every match, and our singles is well on its way. We proved we can hang with nationally ranked teams and have the potential to be one of those teams this spring. The women will be working hard this offseason, getting ready for our spring matches, which will start mid February when we travel to California.

Saturday morning started off with doubles and in the A Flight the Bobcats top team was Timmy Berg and Matt Bettles. The pair received a first round bye before facing the #1 team from Trinity. The Bobcats brought a lot of energy to the match from the very beginning and played aggressively, taking the match 8-1 and advancing to the semifinals. The other A Flight pairing (Kyle DeSisto and Pierre Planche) lost their first round match to Middlebury before bouncing back in their next one, knocking off a very skilled Skidmore team.

In the B Flight Jeff Beaton and Peter Yanofsky received a first round bye before playing a talented team from Amherst. It was a match of runs with both teams trading off leads. Things stayed close and the match went to a tie-breaker. Jeff and Peter committed to moving through returns and bombing serves to claim the match 9-8 (7-3) and move themselves into the semis. Dylan Reffe and Henry Lee had a tough first round and lost to eventual finalists Bowdoin. They bounced back in their next match, taking out Skimore’s #3 team.

In A Singles, Matt Bettles received a first round bye before taking on Trinity’s Ned Mandel. Bettles used his experience and played very intelligent tennis to take the match from the Bantam first-year 6-3 6-3 and advance to the semis. Timmy Berg also won his quarterfinal match taking on Brandeis’s Alec Seigel and advanced by the score 6-1 6-3.

In D Singles first-year Henry Lee gutted out a long first round match. The first set he won 6-1 by ripping the ball directionally and attacking short balls. The second set his Skidmore opponent played exceptional defense and forced many long games, taking the second set 7-5. In the tie-breaker Henry battled through cramps and his tireless opponent, picking the right times to attack and the right times to grind, winning 10-3. In his second match he played #2 seed Will Rives from Amherst and though he played a solid match, Henry lost a close 6-3 6-4 match to the seasoned veteran. Ben Bogard played a great first round match, taking out Skidmore’s Max Bevan 6-1 6-2 in the first round. Bogard moved very well and refused to miss, hitting heavy shots and attacking short balls. In his next match Ben played Mike DeFeo from Brandeis. They had a close 6-2 6-4 match but Ben was too consistent and really put in the work to advance to the semis. Dylan Reffe received a first round bye before facing Trinity first-year David Wheatley. Wheatley is a talented shot maker but Reffe played a very smart game plan by hitting heavy and then mixing in slice at the right times so Wheatley couldn’t get a good rhythm. Dylan advanced to the semifinals winning 6-3 6-3.

On Sunday play started with doubles and the Bobcats had one team in each semifinal. In the B Flight Peter and Jeff played a strong Trinity pairing. Like the previous days match, both teams traded early breaks. There were many long deuce games but late in the set the Bantams got another break and would go on to win the final after beating the Bobcats 8-6.

In the A Flight semifinal, Matt and Timmy played Justin Hendrix and Alex Kim from Amherst. The Bobcats again played with high energy and ripped returns through the middle to advance 8-4. In the finals they faced Alec Hoblitzell and All-American doubles player Jimmy Sherpa from Skidmore. It was hands down the best tennis of the tournament as all 4 players were playing very high level doubles. Bettles and Berg were bombing in serves and crashing the net, with the Skidmore team combatting with great hands and timely lobbing. After 90 minutes the score was knotted at 8-8 and a tie-breaker for the championship ensued. Each team hit a few big serves to keep it close early 3-3. Then the Skidmore pair hit a big return and then another big serve to go up 5-3. On the next point Matt hit a winner off the return and the crowd really got into it as the momentum shifted. Bates got up 6-5 and had a match point before Skidmore knotted it back up at 6-6. In this battle it was now first to win by two points. Both teams had multiple match points but the Bobcats gutted out a 9-8 (13-11) tiebreaker to win the championship!

In singles the Bobcats had 2 players in the A Flight semis and 2 players in the D Flight. In the A Timmy Berg matched up against Oliver Loutsenko from Skidmore. Timmy brought his serve and attacked very well from the beginning taking the first set 6-3. In the second Loutsenko fought back and grinded out a 7-5 second set. In the super tie-breaker Timmy got down 8-2 and came back admirably but fell just short 10-8. In the other semi Matt played Chris Lord from Bowdoin. Matt played smart tennis in the first set and won it 6-4. In the second his opponent outsteadied him and evened things 6-1. In the tie-breaker Matt went back to putting in the work as he had done in the first set and reserved a spot in the finals 10-1. In the final Loutsenko came out ready to play and took the first 6-2. Down 3-0 in the second set Matt got a burst from the home crowd and started ripping the ball and moving better. He put in the work and pushed the set to a tie-breaker. Stepping up in the big moments and going for his shots, Matt took the set 6-4 and would have to play a super tie-breaker to win the match. Playing his fourth tie-break of the weekend, Matt worked hard and busted his butt for every ball. Just like the other breakers before, Matt was clutch and won his second championship of the weekend 2-6 7-6(4) 10-7.

In the D Flight Ben Bogard played #1 seed David Myers from Trinity. Ben played a solid match but lost a break in each set 6-3 6-4. Myers big serve and forehand helped him remain undefeated on the year as he won the Middlebury Invite a few weeks earlier. Dylan Reffe played #2 seed Will Rives from Amherst in the other semi. Dylan executed a smart game plan in the first set and outlasted Rives 6-3. In the second Rives stayed patient and evened things up 6-4. In the tie-break Dylan executed, grinding through the middle until he got a short ball to attack. He toughed out the 11-9 match and took out the #2 seed on his way to the final.

Dylan had a very tough match ahead of him playing #1 seed David Myers. Reffe did his best to keep Myers out of a rythm by mixing in slices and high balls. The strategy worked pretty well but Myers was tough and won the first 7-5. In the second Dylan got down 5-2 and two breaks. But the great thing about tennis is there’s no time clock to prevent a large comeback from happening. Down 5-2 Dylan hustled for every ball and tried to block back Myers powerful serve. After a long game he got the break and then he held to make things a little tighter at 5-4. Again Myers had a chance to serve for the match but Reffe was too tough, he refused to miss and then attacked when he sensed his opponent trying to be more conservative. At 5-5 Dylan held to take the lead in the set for the first time. Myers would then put together 4 big serves to force the tie-breaker. Dylan stuck to his plan, mixing it up down the middle and then attacking anytime he sensed his opponent being cautious. He took the second set 7-6 (7-5) and then won the third set tie-breaker 10-6.

It was a great way to end the fall season for the Bobcats. We won 3 of the 6 flights, improved in every tournament this fall, and were able to see growing maturity in our team as they were composed in tight situations, coming up big when they needed too. The team will be training on their own, lifting, running, and hitting as they prepare for the spring season.

This past weekend the women hosted the USTA/ITA Division III Women’s New England Regional Championship. 25 teams from around the region came for the 3 day tournament. Play started Friday morning with doubles. Senior Meg Anderson and first-year Elena Mandzhukova came out firing in their first match against a strong Middlebury pairing. Playing with high energy and aggressive net play, they jumped out to an early lead and never looked back winning their first round 8-3. In their second round the bobcats played an experienced pair and #5 seed from Tufts. The Jumbos took this match but it was a good showing for Bates as any win in the nation’s best ITA is impressive.

The bobcats other team of Kristen Doerer and Erika Blauth had a first round battle with a team from Nichols. Both teams traded breaks early in the set before getting settled and holding serves. It was a very close match that came down to a one late break but in doubles one bad game is all it takes and the bobcats fell 8-5. Kristen and Erika bounced back as they played a Middlebury pair in the consolation and got back to their game of ripping returns through the middle and closing tight to the net.

In singles Jacqui Holmes lot a tough first round to her Wheaton opponent but played much better in her consolation match against Bowdoin. Meg Anderson played #9 seed Emily Lombardi in the first round and also came up short. In her consolation match Meg beat Smith #1 Jordan Dubin 6-3 6-1.

Elena Mandzhukova also had a tough first round playing Williams first-year Maria Pylypiv. Elena played a very good first set but a late break was the difference in the 6-3 set. Pylypiv took the second set as well and would advance to the semifinals before losing to fellow teammate Nancy Worley. The women’s team will travel to Bowdoin next weekend as they look to build on their ITA experiences.

The bobcats had 4 singles players in the draw. Playing in his first ITA Eric Ruta came out in a big way, beating Zach Goodstein from Clark 6-1 6-1. Also playing in his first ITA was Pierre Planche. Pierre played fellow first-year Alec Seigel from Brandeis. Pierre gave the bobcats their second singles victory of the day and won 6-4 6-2 in a very solid showing. Timmy Berg had a tough first round matching up against #2 for Bowdoin, Sam King. Timmy played a good first set, rocking his serve and attacking the net to win the set 6-4. King was not about to go away though, and fought back claiming the second set 6-1 and forcing the match to a super tie-breaker. In the breaker Timmy got back to his game plan, banging first serves, working for every ball, hitting big and heavy through the middle, and attacking short balls. He executed very well in the clutch and won his match 10-5. Matt Bettles played his first round match against Steven Milo from Brandeis. Matt stayed focused and with his game plan the entire match, and fended off some excellent attacking by Milo to advance to the second round 6-4 6-2.

In the round of 32 Timmy played Jon Cypers, a member of the defending national champion Amherst College. Jon is their top recruit for this year and had just taken out Colby’s #1 6-3 6-0. As in the past, Timmy welcomed the challenge and played his best match of the tournament. Bringing his serve the entire match Timmy was never broken and was able to apply pressure on Cypers in the big games. At 4-4  Timmy was aggressive on short balls and attacked with his forehand finishing most points at the net. Timmy served big at 5-4 to close out the set. The second set was much of the same, many long games until it was tied 4-4. Timmy then gutted out a break and served big for the 6-4 6-4 victory. In his second round Matt had a tough opponent facing undefeated Musyoka Mbithi from Trinity fresh off his championship at the previous weekend’s Middlebury Invitational. Mbithi brought a big game, a large serve, an equally big forehand, and impressive foot speed. However, Matt is a very intelligent player and put together a winning game plan, mixing things up to Mbithi and then attacking his backhand. Matt served big and worked hard for every ball, making passing shots that wowed the massive crowd. In the end Bettles came out on top with the 6-4 6-2 win for the bobcats.

In the round of 16 Timmy played Bryan Chow from Williams. Timmy got his vengeance from their doubles match and played tough in the big moments to win a first set tie-breaker 7-6 (7-2). In the second set Timmy worked hard on every point and outlasted the very skilled Chow 6-4. In Matt’s third match, he played All-American Branter Jones from Middlebury. Jones has a huge game, bombing serves and attacking the net on almost every point. This was Matt’s best match of the tournament and he worked his butt off for every point, playing excellent defense and picking the right times to attack back. Matt displayed amazing foot speed with some of his gets and making his opponent play one more ball each point made all the difference. Matt mixed in topspin lobs with dipping passing shots to take the match 6-2 6-3 in a very impressive showing.

In the quarterfinals both Matt and Timmy would come up short, as Timmy played last years champion and All-American Felix Sun, and Matt played this years champion Joey Fritz. Both competed till the end but their opponents played well and deserve credit for playing the high level they did. Overall this was a solid showing for the bobcats. We played very good doubles and gave the champions their toughest match, all of our singles players won rounds, and we had 2 in the top 8 which is the same as national champion Amherst. The bobcats will continue to work hard and will be playing again in two weeks as we host our annual Wallach Invitational.

This past weekend the men’s team travelled to Middlebury for their first tournament of the year. The highlight for the Bobcat singles play was Dylan Reffe (pronounced reef). Dylan advanced two rounds before he lost a close match to Middlebury’s Chris Frost in the semifinal round. Doubles play for the bobcats was very strong overall. In B Flight doubles Dylan Reffe and first-year Henry Lee got on the board as they overcame some first match jitters and took out a Brandeis pairing 8-2. In their second round they played the eventual finalists from Trinity and lost a close 8-4 decision.

In Flight A, all three bobcat pairings advanced to the quarterfinals. Timmy Berg and Matt Bettles took out the #1 Brandeis pairing 8-5 before falling 8-6 to the eventual finalists from Middlebury. Peter Yanofsky and Jeff Beaton played high energy doubles and gritted out their first round 8-5 over #1 Trinity pairing and highly ranked Anson McCook and Ned Mandel. They lost a close battle 8-6 in their second round to a Middlebury pairing.

Kyle DeSisto and first-year Pierre Planche also got a big win, taking out Skidmore’s #1 team 8-4 before falling to the #1 Middlebury team and eventual champions 9-7. Overall the doubles was very strong. We played with lots of energy and played our opponents dead even. The Bobcats will travel to Williams this weekend to play in the ITA Regional Tournament.

1. Where are you from and what high school did you attend?

Encinitas, CA and I went to The Grauer School.

2. Who if your favorite tennis player?

Nadal

3. Why did you choose Bates?

So many reasons. The campus is beautiful, the people are friendly, there are a lot of new opportunities  for me to explore, and I love the girls on the tennis team and how dedicated they are.

4. If you didn’t play tennis what sport would you be playing?

Surfing

5. Favorite Movie?

Dream Girls

6. Dream Job?

high school counselor

7. Best part of college?

Being independent

8. Last concert you went to?

Kanye West

9. If I turned on your iPod what would be playing?

Jack Johnson

10. If stranded on a deserted island, what is the one thing you would bring with you?

(with an ear to ear smile) Elena

Each team has 3 doubles pairs and you play 3 matches per day its best of 9 matches.  Matt’s team (Somerset) included Alistair Felton from Harvard and Dan Manlow from UAB. They won two matches 8-1, two 7-2 and one 6-3 to claim the title for their division. Matt won 11 out of 15 throughout the week and at least two every day. He had many notable wins including:

Calum Gee from Davidson College NC, #3 singles and #1 doubles
Matthew Nicholson-Lewis from Saint Leo College (D2)  #1 singles and doubles
Incoming Cornell University player Sam Fleck
Simon Childs from Louisville University #3 singles and #1 doubles, ranked as high as 54 in D1 singles this year
Toby Martin – currently ranked 1150 in the world singles.

While Matt was tearing up the doubles court in England, Timmy Berg, and Eric Ruta were doing the same in singles. Playing in Florida, Timmy got to the finals of the Longwood Open (draw below). http://tennislink.usta.com/tournaments/Draws/EventDraw.aspx?T=99959&E=1

Unseeded, Timmy knocked off the #6 seed in the first round and then won a close 6-4 6-4 match to put himself against #1 seed Tye Myers, who had just finished 2nd in a national open and was a former Louisville standout. Timmy battled through the Florida heat to come out with a 3rd set tiebreaker win 12-10 to advance to the finals. In the finals Timmy played Julian Link, a former professional with wins over Marcelo Rios, Tommy Robredo, and Ranier Schuttler. Timmy played a great match but came up just short in a 6-4 7-6 (10-8) battle.

Eric Ruta also played a few men’s open tournaments this summer with his first and last being the most successful. In the Rockland County Summer Open, Eric won the tournament coming through in the clutch to win the final 6-4 7-6 (7-5) over Villanova singles player Andrew Adler. Eric reached the semis of two other tournaments before playing in the Rockland County Fall Open.  Eric beat his opponents decisively en route to his second summer title. Practice starts this Wednesday and the bobcats are all excited and ready to get the season underway.

The following day we travelled to Tufts in hopes of keeping our NESCAC tournaments chances alive. Play started with doubles and the bobcats bounced back from the prior days match and captured #3 doubles 8-6. Tufts evened the score at #2 with an 8-1 win and then the crowd focused in on an intense #1 match. Matt and Rob found themselves in a hole down a break 5-6 but they clawed their way back into the match and played well in crunch time for the 9-7 comeback victory. Needing 3 singles matches for the team win the top 3 went to work. Finishing within ten minutes of each other, Matt, Rob, and Timmy all won their matches by scores of 6-2 6-2 to give the cats the win.

In the final team match of the year we made the trip to Williams to take on the Ephs. Williams put themselves on the board first with a win at #2 doubles. At #3 Williams took a second point as Timmy and Kyle played a good 8-5 match, but were unable to capitalize on their break chances. At #1 Matt and Rob kept the teams chances alive as they gutted out another tough match 8-6 over the very talented duo of Micheli and Chow. In singles the Ephs were very deep and closed the door on the match by taking 4,5, and 6. At #1 Matt played an hour and a half first set before dropping it in a tie-breaker. The second set was close but today Felix Sun just played a little better. At #2 Rob lost the first 9 games of the match before making a stand. He came back and won the second set 6-4 to even things up. He ended up losing in the third but he showed a lot of guts to not throw in the towel after such a large deficit. At #3 Timmy scored the lone singles win for the cats. Playing a tough grinder in Trey Meyer, Berg also went three sets, winning the first 6-2 before dropping the second 6-4. In the super Timmy imposed his will, ripping forehands to one corner in order to open up the other side for attack. He pulled out the match 10-6.

Unfortunately, this ended up being our last team match for the year. Trinity, Tufts, and Bates were in a 3-way tie for 5th place, but due to tie-breakers, we were edged out of the NESCAC tournament. It was a bitter way to end the season but is only motivating the team to push themselves harder for next season. The year is not done for everyone though, as Matt will be making the trip to Claremont, California for singles nationals, and Rob will accompany him as they are the first alternates in the doubles draw.

For the last match of the year the women made the trip to Williams College to take on the defending national champions. The Ephs still look to be in championship form as they swept the doubles. We played pretty well, but were just unable to win many of the big points.

In singles we played much better the with similar scores. The bobcats were in every point and in every game but the experienced Ephs just played the big points a little better. Ashley was playing a very tough match, at 2-2 30 minutes into her match before she rolled the same ankle she had at Tufts just a few days earlier. Though she showed a lot of heart and wanted to keep playing, we saw that it was purple and twice the size of the other ankle and couldn’t let her go through with it. Kristen’s match was a lot like the others, she played the longest match and was in every game but just couldn’t seem to get the last point. When it was all said and done the bobcats lost 9-0 and the season was coming to a close. There are some comments I’d like to make about what this team did this year, because our record is very deceiving.

This team grew tremendously throughout the year. When we made our trip out to Baltimore, we took on teams ranked roughly 10-20 in the country and honestly, I think we played a little scared and didn’t expect much from ourselves. But over the season this teams belief and expectations changed. They worked their butts off and not only believed they belonged on the court, but that they could win. We did some great things like taking the doubles point off a top 10 team in Bowdoin, or giving Middlebury all they could handle. Then closing out the year playing #5 Tufts dead even for almost 5 hours. This team is incredibly tight-knit and since our oldest players are juniors, we will have the entire team back next year to build off where we ended. Another year of experience added with two top recruits coming in next year will only help this team get better. Great year bobcats, get excited for next season!