West Massachusetts News

The Williams College Ephs opened their spring campaign against Wesleyan on Saturday morning followed by a non-conference matchup against St. Michael's on Sunday afternoon. 

On Saturday, doubles went the way of the Cardinals as they came out on top at 1 and 2 doubles. Senior Chase Cohen and Junior Matt Kandel fell 8-5 in a tightly contested match. The duo of Senior Amin and Sophomore Berdia almost forced a match tiebreaker but eventually lost 8-6 in a highly entertaining contest. First years Jason Shuler and Simon Volkema gave the Ephs a point at 3 doubles winning 8-5. Singles was a different story. Williams opened up with two quick victories at 5 and 1, with Volkema looking experienced beyond his years and Cohen continuing his dominant form. Berdia soon followed suit at the 3 spot. The rest of the singles matches went the way of the Ephs, all in convincing fashion. "Today was a great way to start off the season. Six singles wins against a great team like Wesleyan is amazing. Everyone competed well today, but I was particularly impressed with our first years Jason Shuler and Simon Volkema. In their first college dual match, they took care of business in both singles and doubles, representing Williams with the utmost class."

On Sunday afternoon, the team completed the weekend with a strong 7-0 win against St. Michael's College. The energy was high in doubles, with all three teams sprinting to victories. Captain Karan Amin performed well on the doubles court today, ripping forehands left, right, and center. The Ephs continued their dominant form in singles as each player won in straight sets. Coach Greenberg noted, "It was a good opening weekend for the men's tennis team. Of course, there is more room for improvement, but we are happy to come away with two wins. We will try and keep our momentum into next weekend at Bates and Tufts."

Results vs. Wesleyan

Doubles
1) JT Bilski/Ben Mitchell (WES) def. Matt Kandel/Chase Cohen (WIL) 8-5
2) Harrison Collomb/Chase Kasday (WES) def. Karan Amin/Shawn Berdia (WIL) 8-6
3) Jason Shuler/Simon Volkema (WIL) def. Tai MacDonald/Max Lustgarten (WES) 8-5

Singles
1) Chase Cohen (WIL) def. Bilski (WES) 6-3, 6-3
2) Matt Kandel (WIL) def. Collomb (WES) 6-0, 6-2
3) Shawn Berdia (WIL) def. Mitchell (WES) 7-5, 7-5
4) Jason Shuler (WIL) def. MacDonald (WES) 6-1, 6-1
5) Simon Volkema (WIL) def. Lustgarten (WES) 6-2, 6-1
6) Andrew Chong (WIL) def. Portnoy (WES) 6-2 6-3

Results vs. St. Michael's

Doubles
1) Chase Cohen / Matt Kandel (WIL) def. Mathis Billman / Tristian Du Plessis (STM) 6-3
2) Shawn Berdia / Karan Amin (WIL) def. Jason Boucher / Connor Scott (STM) 6-2
3) Jason Shuler / Simon Volkema (WIL) def. Simon Lundholm / Seb Tonini (STM) 6-0

Singles
1) Chase Cohen (WIL) def. Josh Weiss (STM) 6-0, 6-1
2) Matt Kandel (WIL) def. Jackson Moser (STM) 6-1, 6-3
3) Jason Shuler (WIL) def. Jason Boucher (STM) 6-1, 7-6 (2) 
4) Shawn Berdia (WIL) def. Mathis Billman (STM) 6-1, 6-1
5) Simon Volkema (WIL) def. Sergio Barroso (STM) 6-1, 6-2
6) Andrew Chong (WIL) def. Julius van den Broek (STM) 7-5, 6-4 

Original source can be found here.