Bobcats selected for National Championships

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The Bates men’s and women’s tennis teams both had their seasons officially extended on Wednesday, as two doubles teams and one singles player received invitations to the 2012 NCAA Division III Men’s and Women’s Tennis Championships, including the women’s team’s first-ever NCAA bid.

“It will be great to have both the men and women down in North Carolina together!” said Bates head coach Paul Gastonguay.

The women’s doubles team of senior Meg Anderson (Cohasset, Mass.) and first-year Elena Mandzhukova (Lisbon, Portugal) is one of 16 pairs who will compete in the doubles competition, to be held May 24-26 in Cary, N.C. They are Bates’ first two women’s tennis players ever to be selected to play in the NCAA Championships.

In the men’s tournament taking place on the same dates at the same site, junior Rob Crampton (Wilton, Conn.) is one of 32 players who will compete for the singles title. He will also team up with junior doubles partner Matt Bettles (Taunton, England) as one of 16 doubles pairings. A year ago, Bettles played in the singles competition at NCAAs and won his first All-America honors.

Anderson and Mandzhukova amassed a 12-7 record in dual matches this season, all at the No. 1 doubles position. The Bates pair also won seven of its last nine contests, including wins over the No. 1 doubles pairs of No. 1 nationally ranked Williams, No. 20 Brandeis and No. 30 MIT. The pair helped lead Bates to its best season ever, which included a rise into the top 30 ranked teams in Division III (the Bobcats are currently at No. 28) and a 10-9 overall record.

Anderson and Mandzhukova’s 9-8 win over Williams duo Kara Shoemaker and Taylor French in the Bobcats’ season finale on April 28 may have clinched their bid to nationals. The win moved the Bates pair into fifth place in the ITA’s Division III Northeast Region rankings, one slot ahead of the Ephs. Mandzhukova, Bates’ No. 1 singles player all season, is ranked eighth in singles in the region.

“Meg has worked so hard for four years and I am so happy that she has this opportunity to finish out her career this way,” said Gastonguay. “Elena has worked very hard to overcome nagging injuries all year, and she and Meg have really gelled into an amazing doubles team.”

 

At singles, Crampton became nearly an automatic point for the Bobcats, going undefeated since March 11, a streak of 12 straight wins. Crampton played No. 3 singles for Bates for most of the year, then moved up to No. 2 singles for Bates’ most recent matches against Tufts, Williams and Trinity.

Crampton and Bettles started the season with three consecutive losses at No. 1 doubles for Bates, but since then they have won 12 out of 14 to finish with a record of 12-5. Their victory haul includes six against nationally ranked teams — beginning with the most recent, they are No. 12 Middlebury (twice), No. 3 Williams, No. 24 Trinity, No. 13 Johns Hopkins, No. 21 Mary Washington and No. 29 MIT.

NESCACs vs Middlebury

After losing the Middlebury 7-2 earlier this season, the two teams faced off in the first round of NESCACs with both teams looking to extend their seasons. Bates jumped on the board first at #1 with Matt and Rob coming out firing. They took the first 4 games and never looked back en route to an 8-4 win. At #3 Middlebury bounced back and got an early break in their 8-5 win. At #2 the Cats were down a break but Timmy and Pierre committed to ripping through the middle and closing tight. They started grooving their returns and pulled out an 8-6 win to put the Bobcats up 2-1 heading into singles. 

 

#1,2,5 finished roughly around the same time with the Panthers winning 1,5 and Rob winning at 2 to even the match at 3-3. Ben lost a tough match at 6, after being down 6-0 4-1 he had managed to climb back to 4-4 before losing a hard fought match. At #3 Matt evened the match at 4-4 and got some vengeance with a 6-3 6-3 win over Derrick Angle who had bested him in three sets earlier this year. With the match tied at 4-4 Pierre was the last man on the court. Losing a tough first set 6-4 he was down 4-1 in the second set. He brought it back to 4-5 and his opponent was serving for the match. Pierre got down 0-40 but stayed tough and brought the game back to deuce. His opponent then won the next two points and the match 6-4 6-4 but the first-year did his best and fought on every point. 

 

Men’s Matches vs Williams, USM

LEWISTON, Maine — The No. 15 nationally ranked Bates men’s tennis team finished the regular season with a home doubleheader on Sunday, falling 6-3 to NESCAC opponent and third-ranked Williams on Sunday morning before defeating the University of Southern Maine 9-0 in the afternoon at Merrill Indoor Gymnasium.

Bates finishes the regular season 10-7 overall and 4-4 in NESCAC play. The Bobcats are the fifth seed in the six-team NESCAC Men’s Tennis Championship next weekend (May 4-6) at Williams. The first-round match will be against Middlebury.

Bates juniors Rob Crampton (Wilton, Conn.) and Matt Bettles (Taunton, England) both went 2-0 against the Ephs, combining to win 8-5 over Bryan Chow and Richard Meyer at first doubles before winning at second and third singles, respectively, against Felix Sun and Matt Micheli. Sun is currently the top-ranked singles player in the Northeast Region, making it the second time Rob has knocked off the #1 player in the region (the first was Joey Fritz of Amherst). Micheli is also ranked very high at #11 and it was a very solid performance from Bettles as he was down 4-5 in the second set but stayed rock solid and won the remaining 3 games for the match.

First-year Henry Lee (Sag Harbor, N.Y.), junior Dylan Reffe (Washington, D.C.) and sophomore Eric Ruta(Ridgewood, N.J.) played great in the starting lineup against the Huskies, with all three winning decisively in singles play.

Women’s Match vs #1 Williams

The Bobcats took on 4-time defending national champion #1 Williams Ephs at home in the last match of the year. The Bobcats were fired up and fought on every ball for each other, but especially for seniors Meg and Erika playing their last team match. All three matches were hard fought but Williams got the first doubles point at #3. Nicole and Ashley knotted things up winning a decisive 8-3 match. They committed to ripping their returns through the middle and scrapping for every ball. Ashley was hitting tough dips, setting up Nicole to poach at the net. 

 

At #1 Meg and Ellie were in a back and forth match. Both teams had leads and chances to take the match, but after 90 minutes of high intensity doubles, they found themselves tied 8-8 and a tie-breaker commenced. Both teams were playing tough but the Bobcats committed to trusting what they know and really going for it. down 5-4 Meg knifed and overhead from the baseline to tie the breaker at 5-5. Williams hit a big serve to give themselves another match point, but the Bobcats responded as Ellie popped a serve and Meg poached to tie it at 6-6. Ellie hit another good serve then Meg ripped a return at 7-6 to give the Bobcats the win 9-8 (8-6). This was the first time the Bobcat Women have ever won the doubles point against Williams or a #1 nationally ranked team and they did it by trusting what they know and just competing on every ball for each other. 

 

In singles the Ephs found their stride and were able to win the team match, but the Bobcats fought admirably. Ellie lost a close 6-4 6-4 match and Meg had a tough 7-6 6-1 match that could have gone either way. We played so well and with so much heart from top to bottom. It was a great way to end the season and send off our senior captains. 

Mens Match vs Tufts

The men played very well top to bottom in our home match against the Tufts Jumbos. The Bobcats got the doubles sweep winning quickly 8-3 at the second and third spots. At #1 Matt and Rob were down 7-6 but stayed tough and ripped returns through the middle to win the next 3 games and the match 9-7.

 

Timmy defeated the 22nd-ranked player in the region, Ben Barad 6-2, 6-1 at #1. Junior Rob Crampton won 6-2, 6-2 over Andrew Lutz at #2, while Bettles won 6-3, 6-1 at #3. First-year Pierre Planche won in a super tiebreaker, as did Bates senior captain Jeff Beaton, who came back from a set down to win decisively in the super tiebreaker.After winning his doubles match, Ben went out with the same intensity and was able to secure the 9-0 sweep for the Bobcats with a 6-3 6-3 victory.

 

Mens match vs Trinity

For the fourth time this season, the Bobcats beat an opponent they had lost to last year (MIT, Hopkins, Brandeis) in an away match against the Trinity Bantams. At #1 Matt and Rob got off to a hot start and were really dipping their returns well and closing off balls at the net for the 8-3 win. The Bantams battled back at #3 for the win to even the team score at 1-1. At #2 Timmy and Pierre won an 8-6 battle that had some of the best volley rallies we had seen all year. It was very high level tennis but the Bobcats brought their serves the entire match and that made the difference. 

 

In singles the Bobcats took the top 4 spots in straight sets to lock up the team win 6-3. At #1 Timmy played a very solid match, bringing his huge serve, and keeping the ball deep to set up his forehand in the 6-3 6-4 win. At #2,3, Matt and Rob dropped 4 games each in their matches as they continue to lead by example in how they compete and fight on the court. At #4 Pierre won a close first set 6-4 before finding himself down 4-1 in the second set. He stayed tough and committed to his directionals and was able to win the next 5 games and the match 6-4 6-4. 

 

Womens Match vs Bowdoin

The #30 Bobcats took on the #10 ranked Bowdoin in what turned out to be one of our better matches this season. In doubles we played well at all three spots and it was very high level tennis. In singles we lost all 6 spots but every match was a battle. 

Senior captain Meg Anderson fell in an epic third set tiebreaker, 6-1, 6-7, (13-11), to Kate Winingham at No. 2 singles. After losing the first set and being down big in the second set, Meg continued to fight and scrap for every ball. She ripped her backhand to set up short balls and attacked the net to win the second set. In the tie-breaker she came up 2 points short, but she competed her best and should be proud of leaving it all on the court.  

 

 

At #6 Nicole also played a great match against Hannah Hoerner. Nicole won the first set 7-5 by crushing the ball through the middle, creating short balls, and putting away volleys and overheads. In the second set her opponent fought bought and won another close set 6-4. Though Nicole came up just short in her tie-breaker, she committed to playing her game and fought every second for every ball. 

 

 

Tennis Teams Smoke Camels

This time last year the Bobcats made the trip to Connecticut College and came up short in a 6-3 loss. While our team is mostly the same players, the team has grown tremendously, and for the 4th time this season, we knocked off another team that we lost to last year.

Building off of their Colby performance, Meg and Ellie came out swinging and took the #1 spot 8-0. At #2 and #3, the Bobcats played aggressively while still being disciplined. Both pairs dug out every ball and were gritty on every point, both emerging with 8-4 victories and the doubles sweep.

In singles the Bobcats stayed with this fire and did everything we talk about in practice. We stayed directional to set up short balls, we had great footwork, and we had high energy throughout the match. We controlled the things we could control, and when it was all said and done, the result showed on the scoreboard. From a 6-3 loss last year, the Bobcats had improved so much that this year we took the match 9-0. It was another great day in our record breaking season, and a product of all the hard work the women continue to pour into practice every day.

After a tough match with Bowdoin the day before, the men’s team got back on track against the Camels. In doubles the Bobcats got the sweep with 8-1 8-2 and 8-6 wins. The men continued to stay focused and fight for every ball and took all 6 singles spots for the 9-0 team win.

Women’s Match vs Colby

After a tough 5-4 heartbreaking loss to Colby last year, the women’s team was ready to go for this one. The Bobcats came out firing in doubles and Meg and Ellie won 8-2 at #1, ripping the ball through the middle and crossing on anything weak. Personally I thought it was their best doubles match to date, and they are improving with each match. At #2 Ashley and Nicole got down 5-3 before turning things around. They committed to safe targets and closing the net tighter to rattle off 5 straight games for the win 8-5. At #3 Jacqui and Lucy used their lobs to get their opponents off balance and then attacked en route to an 8-4 victory.

In singles to Bobcats didn’t let up for a second. At #5 Lucy secured the first Bobcat point winning 6-0 6-3 as she attacked the net tenaciously. At #1 Ellie sealed the match with a 7-5 6-2 win. 3 of the last 4 matches went to third set tie-breakers with seniors Meg Anderson and Erika Blauth both stepping up in the clutch for the 7-2 team win.

 

Overall it was a great day. We bounced back from the Tufts match and played doubles with fire in our eyes. We battled hard in singles and were in the right mode the entire match. This was the third time we have won a match this year against a team that beat us last year, and its great to see all the hard work the women put in paying off.

Mens matches vs Colby and Bowdoin

The 15th-ranked Bobcats won all three doubles matches in an 8-1 victory over Colby College in their first  NESCAC win of the season. The Bobcats are now 20-1 in doubles play over their past seven matches, helping them to a team record of 7-1 in that time. We came out with a lot of energy, worked our hardest for every ball, and never let up. 

 

 The No. 15 nationally ranked Bates men’s tennis team entered Friday’s match at rival and 10th-ranked Bowdoin with a 20-1 record in doubles play in the Bobcats’ past seven matches. But the host Polar Bears turned the tables on the Bobcats, seizing a 3-0 lead after doubles play en route to a 7-2 NESCAC victory.

Bates won its two points at first and third singles, prevailing in pro-set tiebreakers in both cases. Timmy defeated Bowdoin’s Sam King 6-2, 2-6, (11-9) at No. 1, while Rob was a 6-4, 3-6, (10-8) winner over Chris Lord at No. 3