meet the bobcats- dylan reffe

Next on Meet the Bobcats is first year Dylan Reffe.

1. Where are you from and where did you go to high school?

I went to the Maret School in my hometown of Washington, D.C.

2. What was your favorite class from 1st semester?

My favorite class was Psych 101.

3. Who is your favorite professional athlete?

My favorite professional athlete is Gilbert Arenas.

4. What do you miss the most from home?

I miss Vace, the local italian pizza place.

5. What is the best movie you have seen in the last two years?

My favorite movie ever is The Shawshank Redemption, but honestly the best movie I’ve
seen recently in theaters was 500 Days of Summer.

6. What is your favorite Commons meal?

My favorite meal is the stir-fry.

7. What is the next place you would like to visit?

Some friends and I are planning on taking a trip up to Quebec soon…so I guess Canada.

8. Are you a morning or a night person?

I’m not a morning person or a night person…I definitely don’t like getting up in the
morning, but I don’t stay up too late either.

9. What type of toothpaste do you use?

I use dental care whitening tooth paste.

10. What is your favorite holiday?

My favorite holiday is definitely Thanksgiving.

**Don’t forget to check back in the next few days for the story about Cats’ trip to Ohio. **

cats take the court against the judges

This past Saturday the Brandeis Judges came to visit Bates with the weather being the nicest we have had on campus since the start of the new decade reaching almost 70 degrees and sunny all day. It was a perfect day to play our first outdoor match of the season against an opponent that would test both the men and the women. The Brandeis men’s team, ranked #14 regionally and coached by Bates grad Ben Lamanna, came in with one of their strongest teams in recent years thinking they had a good chance to take down the Cats.

As expected, the senior doubles team of Mannelly and Fenno took care of business winning 8-6 like they have in their last two matches at #3 doubles. Reiss and Rupa lost 8-5 at #1 dubs, which set the scene for the all important second doubles point being decided on court 2. The only problem for the Cats was that Max and Jeff found themselves down 6-1 and just a few points away from having the team go down 2-1. But with the raucous home crowd of family and friends behind them, the Cats started to fight back, getting a hold and a break to get the score to 6-3. At that point, everyone at the Wallach Center could sense a shift in momentum. Then there was another hold, and another break. Now the Cats were down 6-5 and you could see the pressure on the Judges’ faces.  After over an hour of doubles, the two teams found themselves locked in a tie-break for the team lead going into the singles. Was there any doubt that the Jeff and Max would come out victorious, there shouldn’t have been as they took control on the first point. The comeback was complete, a 9-8(0) victory and the Cats fed off of the fight shown by the #2 doubles team.

Amrit faced a Trinity College transfer, Nick White, in a very entertaining #1 singles match on court 1. Rupa played some of his best tennis in the first set, showing some of the beautiful shot making he is becoming known for to win 6-1 in the 1^st. The second set would not be as easy as White picked up his game and the two seniors battled from the baseline, giving the spectators another hour of great tennis. Like he has done all season, Rupa came through and found a way to close out the match, winning the 2^nd 6-4. This match would clinch the victory for the Cats as Max was first off the court with a 6-1, 6-1 victory at #3. He completely overwhelmed Yovanoff and never let him into the match. By being all business on the court he showed his leadership, with his focus and intensity rubbing off on Bettles who was playing next to him on court 4. Matt, our first year British import, showed the shot making he is capable of as he moved his opponent corner to corner. Bettles was on and off the court in no time giving the Cats their fourth point and setting the stage for Rupa to clinch the third straight win for the Cats. Reiss would finish off the winning at #2 against Miller in the match tie-break 10-8, for a final team score of 6-3. It was a good win against a much improved team and set the tone for an intense week of practice this last week in preparation for their road trip to Ohio. The first match is against Denison at 4pm, Friday March 26. Saturday they travel to Kenyon to face the #6 team in the country, and then follow that up with a match against Case Western on Sunday before heading home.

The women followed the men last Saturday, hoping to push their win streak to six matches. It would be a tough test as the Judges took down the Cats last year by a score of 8-1. With a hard fought loss by the Bates #3 team of Katie and Erika and a win by first years Ashley and Nicole at #2, the team score was tied 1-1 with #1 doubles being tied 6-6. Meg and Alex found a way to scrap their way to two break points against the pair of Broderick and Rosman, unfortunately unable to convert either of them. At 6-7, Brandeis came up with great returns to take the game and the set 8-6, allowing them to enter the singles with a 2-1 lead.

Needing to get four of the six singles matches would be a tall mountain to climb, but one the Cats knew the could overcome. It started with Nicole Russell, the Colby closer, at #6 as she kept her opponent on the move throughout the match on her way to a 6-3, 6-4 win. This tied the match at 2-2, but soon after Rosman at #2 and Gallegos at #4 would win and give the lead right back to the Judges, 4-2. As Katie went toe to toe with family friend Ariana Sanai at #3, Erika was locked in a great match at #5. Erika lost the first set in a tie-break and could have just gone away and let her opponent take the match, but not this day. Erika actually picked up her play and started to wear Levine down winning the second set 6-2. As Erika entered her third set, Alex’s second set was headed into a tie-break. Alex won the first set 6-3 because of her overpowering serve and aggressiveness at net. In the 2^nd, Broderick found a way to get into the tie-break, winning it without dropping a point. As they split sets at the #1 position, Katie was on court 3 fighting as hard as should could to find an answer to Sanai. After a few key points didn’t go her way in the second set, Katie found herself on the losing end of a 7-5, 6-2 match. In her last two singles matches Katie has made a great comeback to win an important match for the Cats against Colby, the other there were a few points that didn’t go her way and she lost, but in both she was able to learn what we focus on everyday. We don’t control if we win or lose, we only control the effort we put in and Katie gave the Cats everything she had in both matches.

That win clinched the victory for the Judges, but the two remaining players for Bates still had a lot of fight left in them. Alex could have been deflated as she entered the match tie-break for the third set, but she came out on fire and found the form that won her the first set. Alex was victorious, 10-5, for one of the best wins in her career. As the sun was setting on an beautiful and entertaining day of tennis at the Wallach Center, Erika was the last one on court. She had refused to go away after losing a close first set, and now against the backdrop of a garnet silhouette of campus, she found herself with a chance to serve out the match. She did just that, winning the third set 6-2, ending the team match as a 5-4 loss for the Cats.

When you win a 5-4 match it’s the best feeling a team can have, when you lose it can be the worst. Unlike Colby, we didn’t come out on top this time, but having such a close match against the nationally ranked Judges shows the improvement of this young team. The great thing was the Cats had a chance to get right back on the court the following Tuesday against the Babson Beavers. The Cats moved their record to 6-1 on the season after a 5-2 victory over the Beavers. Getting the five wins for the Cats were Meg and Alex at #1 doubles, Katie and Erika at #3 doubles, Katie at #3 singles, Erika at #5 singles, and Nicole at #6 singles. The Cats now have a little bit of a break before their next match, which will be a home contest against the #12 Tufts Jumbos on April 3rd. We hope to see all our fans at the Wallach Center to cheer us on.

cats pack on wins against mules

Both the men and the women headed north earlier this week to take on conference rival, Colby. The men played on Monday and hoped to move to 1-0 in the conference. The Cats have dominated the rivalry in the recent years, and from the beginning there was little doubt this year would be any different. The Cats jumped on the Mules early with a 3-0 lead after the doubles. Amrit and Reiss had no trouble at #1, Ryan and Fenno had their second 8-6 win at #3, and after a 15 minute first game, Max and Jeff gave the guys the three match sweep of doubles.

In the singles, Fenno continued his strong play, with a quick 1,0 win. This was his second match in a row to be first off the courts, setting the tone for the team in singles. Amrit also came out firing, winning his first set at love. Kimball from Colby gave Rupa his best stuff in the second, but the Bates #1 stayed mentally tough and closed out the match in a tie break. Amrit is undefeated in singles so far this season. Reiss and Berger had no problems, showing their experience over the younger Mules. The Bates pair only lost a total of five games in their two matches. Jeff is continuing to mature as he won his second match in a row by the score of 6-3, 6-4. Freshman Kyle DeSisto came through in the clutch at the end of his match to seal the 9-0 win for the Cats. After losing the first set, Kyle settled down and started to impose his athletic game on his opponent to win the second. In the match tie break for the third set, he was down two match points at 9-7, but didn’t let the pressure rattled him. He won four straight points to take the match 11-9 in the tie break.

It was an very professional performance by the Cats on Monday; they knew they were the better team and took care of business. They look to continue their strong play this Saturday against visiting Brandeis. The Judges are coached by former Bobcat player and assistant coach, Ben Lamanna, with the Cats winning the match last year by a score of 8-0.

The women visited the Mules on Tuesday and wanted to hold up their end of the bargain after the men won on Monday. Last year the match between the Cats and Mules came down to the end with Colby coming out on top 5-4. The ladies looked to get revenge and push their win streak to five matches. The doubles has been the key to their success so far this season, not having lost a match while going 12-0 in their four matches so far. Alex and Meg, after coming through in the clutch against MIT a few days earlier, led the way for the Cats with a dominating 8-3 victory. Nicole and Ashley struggled to get anything going against their more experienced opponents. The Cats continued to fight, but could never figure out the serve of the Mules and did not find a way to get the break of serve they lost earlier in the set. Katie and Erika played with great intensity at the #3 spot and completely overpowered the team across the net, winning by a score of 8-4. The turning point in the match was when the Cats won a 10 deuce return game early in the set, showing their mental toughness by finding a way to win that game and the match.

In singles, Alex, Meg, and Katie started strong by winning their first sets. The second sets would not be as easy, as Alex strained a muscle in her leg that inhibited her movement. She lost the second and then was down a break in the third set when she was able to break back to get the score to 4-4. Her opponent then played two very tough games to steal the victory out of Alex’s grasp. With that loss and the strong performance by Davidson from Colby at the #4 spot, the Mules regained the lead 3-2 with both Meg and Katie in decisive third sets. During our conditioning sessions early in the season we talked about how everyone is in good enough shape to play well for two sets, but it’s the third set where the player who is fitter will shine. The women made it a goal that being tired in a third set would not be an option for this team, and it wasn’t as Meg and Katie proved to be the more conditioned player. Katie steamrolled her opponent by moving her corner to corner with great cross court groundstrokes. Meg drew strength from Katie’s dominance as well as from Nicole who got off to a fast start at the #6 position. Meg stayed mentally tough against a crafty opponent, coming through and earning the Cats their 4th point. With Erika losing a hard fought match at #5, her first of the season, the team match was tied at 4-4 and everything came down to the freshman from Boca Raton, FL. With an overpowering first set, it seemed as though she might be able to win with ease, but the second set was a back and forth emotional roller coaster as both teams looked on. Nicole broke serve to get the 5-4 lead in the set with a chance to bomb a few serves to win the match for the Cats. That was exactly what she did, coming up with un-returnable serves, the last missed return clinched the match for the Cats as the team rushed the court to congratulate Nicole.

**Check out the post match interview with Katie and Meg on Youtube. The link is in the column to the right at the top**

This was a big win for the Cats, showing they can come through against tough opponents when the pressure is on. This young team is maturing right in front of our eyes. They will have another chance to show what they are made of on Saturday against Brandeis at 3pm at the Wallach Center.

Huskies, Engineers, no match for the cats

The Cats entered this past weekend with a record of 2-0 and looked to continue their winning ways by getting another two victories. On Friday night they traveled to Gorham, ME to play the USM Huskies. The Cats, wearing their tie-dye shirts from February break, came out hot in the doubles jumping to a 3-0 lead. Ashley and Nicole won at #1 and Jean and Jenna got their first win as a team at the #2 spot. In the singles, Erika led the way by winning in dominating fashion, 6-0, 6-0 at #2. Adrienne got the first win of her young career at #4, and fellow first years Jenna and Katie closed out the match with wins to give the Cats the 9-0 victory. The win moved the Cats to 3-0 on the season with a big match up against MIT on Saturday. After the win the team stopped in at the Gorham House of Pizza for some of the best calzones you will find in the state. It was a great way to end a successful day and get ready for the Engineers.

**Check out the post match interview with Alex and Jean on Youtube. The link is to the right at the top of the column**

On Saturday the MIT Engineers came to Bates where the Cats were looking to get a little revenge after last years’ loss down in Cambridge. The all important doubles were first, and everyone in the gym knew it would be a struggle between the two evenly matched teams to come away with the lead going into the singles. It would be the Cats who would strike first. The win came at #3 doubles where Erika and Katie played a flawless last three games to get the 8-5 win. After having a 5-3 lead, their opponents tied it up at 5-5. At that point Erika and Katie came together and fired each other up saying this was their match and reinforcing their belief to each other that they could pull out the victory. That is exactly what the duo did, sticking to the game plan and coming up with bigger shots than their opponents on almost every point.

With the win, the Cats were up 1-0 as Nicole and Ashley were knotted up at 6-6 at #2. Nicole and Ashley had done a great job to battle back after being down an early break. At 6-6, the pair controlled the net and pressured the Engineer team into mistakes as the Cats’ pace was too great. Their 8-6 win gave Bates the 2-0 lead as Alex and Meg were serving for the match at #1. At 7-6, Alex had the match on her racket and she didn’t disappoint. Bombing her big serve allowed Meg to cross and put away the easy volleys and eventually at 40-30 Alex hit a serve that did not come back. The Cats found themselves with the 3-0 lead after the doubles knowing they had much more work to do.

The singles were certainly a struggle, but in the end they were definitely enjoyable. Alex led the way as she competed against Leslie Hansen, MIT’s All-American from the previous year. Her teammates saw Alex not back down from such a talented opponent and played with the same confidence their captain showed. First to win for the Cats was Ashley at #4, putting her opponent away with a perfect execution of the game plan, 6-2, 6-0. 4-0 Bates. A few minutes later, Meg showed everyone how much she has improved as she closed out a very solid opponent at #2 with a score of 6-3, 6-4. It would have been easy for Meg to get nervous as she tried to close out the match for Bates, but as she served 5-4 she played even better. Coming up with four straight winners solidified the victory for the Bobcats.

Katie had a great comeback at #3 as she was a little overwhelmed by the hard hitting pace of her opponent in the first set only to show her grit in the second set, barely losing it 7-5. Erika was on and off at the #5 spot without many people knowing because it was so quick. She stayed undefeated on the season with a 6-2, 6-0 victory. Jean would finish things up with a 6-2, 6-1 victory at #6 which would give the Cats the 7-2 overall win.

It was a great day for the Cats, beating a team we lost to the season before and also moving to 4-0 on the season. When looking at the online archives, the women’s results go back to the 1997-1998 season. According to the archives, this is the first Bates Women’s Tennis team to start the season 4-0 since electronic records have been kept. At the beginning of the season everyone who was apart of this team knew they could do something special, it looks as though this is just the start of something great. The Cats visited rival Colby for their first conference match on Tuesday night, it would certainly turn out to be an exciting one. Look out for the story right here on the Bates Tennis Blog in the days to come.

men back in the win column after trip to Babson

The men had a hard fought match against MIT the last time out, resulting in a loss and a 1-1 start to the season. Last Friday the Cats had a chance to get back to their winning ways with a match in Waltham, MA against the Babson College Beavers. In the doubles there were a couple of new pairings. Amrit and Reiss stayed at #1 spot and faced a tough team of Kamergorodsky and Lafayette. On the fast courts of the Boston Sports Club the Beaver duo was too powerful and came out with the victory 8-6. With the Cats down 1-0 it was important to win the other two doubles to ensure the lead going into the singles. After a successful fall season, Max and Jeff joined together again for an 8-4 win at #2 doubles evening the team match score at 1-1. It came down to #3 doubles where seniors Ryan and Zach showed their experience earning an early break and then continuing to hold serve the rest of the match as they sealed up the second point for the Cats with an 8-6 win.

After several close doubles matches the guys knew they would have a fight on their hands and would have to keep the intensity up in hopes of getting on top of the Beavers early in the singles. Fenno would lead the charge as he quickly earned a 6-2, 6-1 win at #4 in his best played match of the young season. Rupa playing Kamergorodsky, who he lost to in doubles, stuck to the game plan of heavy shots and attacking his opponent’s short balls to get the 6-3, 6-3 win at #1. This gave the Cats a 4-1 lead and they only needed one more point to get the victory. Another senior, Max, would get his second win of the day to give Bates the fifth point with his win at the #3 spot. Reiss won by a score of 6-2, 6-2, but his opponent was much tougher than the score looked and Reiss did a great job of keeping his composure to take care of business. Jeff struggled somewhat in the second set, but showed his grit and determination to pull out the tiebreak even though the team match was already decided. All around it was an impressive performance by the Cats. This Babson team is much better than the scores looked; the guys showed great focus knowing if they played their game and put 100% effort on every ball they could take control of the match.

The Cats have their first NESCAC match of the year on March 15 at Colby. Every conference match is important as it decides your seeding in the conference tournament, and of course getting a win against one of our biggest rivals will be on the mind of every guy in the line-up. The next home match will be the following Saturday against Brandeis, when both the men and women play host to the Judges.

*Don’t forget to check out the post match interview with Reiss and Fenno on youtube. The link is in the right column at the top*

cats shutout lyons and pioneers

The Cats opened their 2010 spring season at Mt. Holyoke versus the Lyons, a team they defeated last year. The women were excited about finally getting to play someone besides their own teammates, and that excitement showed during the doubles. The doubles matches are so important in college tennis with both teams trying to get at least the one point lead, but if you can find a way to win all three matches you put yourself in a commanding lead heading into the six singles matches. The Cats did exactly what they wanted, rolling to convincing victories in all three matches. Meg and Alex won 8-3 at #1, Ashley and Erika won 8-4 at #2, and Jacqui and Katie won 8-2 at #3. For many of the Cats this was their first time playing in a team dual match which applies an added pressure than a tournament match. There were no signs of nerves as every member of the singles line up came out firing and completed the sweep of the Lyons, 9-0. Both Alex and Jean, #1 and #6 respectively, showed their experience as they lost a total of four games between them. Ashley and Erika both won with ease by the score of 0,1. Katie had the most entertaining match of the morning, winning 10-5 in a match tiebreak for the match. After a tough second set tiebreak in which she lost 7-3, Katie was able to regain her composure and play a solid and powerful match tiebreak. It was a great start for the Cats, but they knew their day was not done because they were scheduled to meet the Pioneers from Smith College later in the afternoon.

For those of you who followed the team and blog last year, you might remember the birthday celebration we had for Meg at the MIT match last March. Once again, Meg’s parents were gracious enough to bring the team lunch again this year and it seems as though we have started a tasty tradition for Bates women’s tennis. As the Cats enjoyed the sandwiches and chips, the delicious Bates Tennis themed cake would have to wait until the job was done against Smith. And like you would expect, they came out fired up in the doubles once again.

Meg and Alex were first off, with a convincing 8-1 victory against a hard hitting Pioneer team. Katie and Jacqui were next to shake hands in victory as Jacqui had an inspiring performance fighting through nagging back pain to help Katie earn the second point for the Cats. That third doubles point was still out there as Erika and Ashley continued to battle at #2 doubles. Finally at 6-6, the Cats came through with the break of serve and then were able to hold to win the match 8-6. Winning all six doubles matches on Saturday showed that all the doubles work has paid off and allowed the Cats to go into the singles with Smith with some breathing room. They wouldn’t need it. Everyone won with relative ease, starting with Jean and her 6-0,6-0 win. Instead of Katie, it was Meg at the #2 spot who would have the most exciting match of the afternoon. After losing the first set, she showed her maturity by coming back to blank her opponent 6-0 in the second set. Then, down one match point in the match tiebreak, she found a way to get every ball back until her opponent made a mistake. Eventually Meg pulled the match out 11-9 in the breaker, giving the Cats another 9-0 victory.

On a side note, this was the last trip for the seniors to the teams’ favorite deli in New England, Tailgate Picnic. Luckily, Jean and Alex each purchased a shirt so they can have the Tailgate with them forever.

This was a good start to the season for the Cats, but there are much tougher matches ahead. A true test to see where this young Bates team is will be this Saturday, at home against MIT at 1pm. The Engineers beat the Cats last year 7-2, so it should be a very competitive match. On Friday the women travel to Portland for a match versus USM as they look for a 3-0 start.

Cats go 1-1 in opening weekend

The men’s team started their season off last weekend with a pair of home matches against University of Southern Maine in the morning and MIT in the afternoon. As the Cats strolled into Merrill Gym at 8am they knew it would be a long day, but had no idea it would go as late as it did. In the first match against the USM Huskies, the Cats took a commanding 3-0 lead after the doubles matches, only losing one game total in the three sets. The doubles teams consisted of Amrit and Reiss at #1, Rob and Max at #2, and Bettles and Jeff at #3. A whole new six guys would come in for the Cats during the singles matches. No matter what member of the team was playing on Saturday morning, there was no way they were going to give an inch to the visitors. Fenno played #1, only lost 3 games total, Jeff played #2 and didn’t lose a game, and Ryan played #3 and won 6-0, 6-4. At positions 4, 5, and 6 there was much of the same. Freshmen Kyle and Dylan had no trouble winning, losing a total of 6 games between them. Woods finished off the dominating win with a 6-1, 6-1 win. It was a great team effort, as every member earned a point for the team, but each guy knew he would find a much greater test in the afternoon.

The match against MIT was a hard fought, well-played, extremely competitive match from the very first point of doubles. Each match was back and forth and MIT took an early lead 4-1 lead at #2 doubles. Rob and Max found a way to claw back into the match, making fewer mistakes and picking up the aggressiveness. They found themselves in a tiebreak up match point at 9-8 in the breaker. The MIT team played a great point that forced the Cat duo back behind the baseline to play defense. They threw up a lob that as it fell it nicked the top of the net and barely fell on the other side. So instead of hitting an overhead to tie the match again, MIT was forced to hit the ball up and Rob closed on the net to put away the easy volley through the middle of the court for the first team point. It was a great comeback and an unbelievable finish to a great match. #1 doubles was just as close as Amrit and Reiss played the doubles team of Pang and Pang. The Cats had their serve broken at 6-6, but broke right back to stay in the match. Unfortunately, they were broken again at 7-7 and eventually lost 9-7. #3 doubles finished only minutes later as Jeff and Bettles came back from being down an early break to get their own break at 7-8 as the Engineers were serving. Their victory gave the Cats the 2-1 edge going into the singles matches.

Every match was a test of wills and stamina, as the entire dual match took six hours. Amrit was the only Cat to get a singles victory. Rupa lost the first set, and then tightened up his game to win the second set 6-2. Even thought he was playing well, he found himself down 4-1 in the third. He showed why he is a champion, coming back to win six out of the last seven games. As he blocked the final volley into the open court he let out a yell of “Let’s Go Bates College!” Unfortunately, not every bounce of the ball went the way of the Bobcats, as MIT was able to head back to Cambridge with the victory on Saturday. There were several good things to take away from this good early season test for the team. For players like Rob and Bettles, this was their first experience playing in a college dual match, a pressure very unique to tennis. They both had close matches, which should help them in future as they continue to play an important role for the team. It was certainly a disappointing day, but if the men can use this to grow as a team then it can be seen as a victory.

The Cats will get right back at it this Friday when they play at Babson. If you happen to be in the Boston area it would be great to see you out for a Friday night full of Bates tennis as the match begins at 5pm. The women will also play this weekend; their first matches of 2010 will be against Smith and Mt. Holyoke at Mt. Holyoke on Saturday.