2008 Spring Season Outlook

WILLIAMSTOWN, MA — A tradition of success surrounds the Williams College men’s tennis program — 11 straight years in which the Ephs have advanced to or beyond the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Tournament, 12 straight Little 3 titles and three national championships is evidence enough of that.

But first-year coach Dave Donn isn’t looking for his team to focus on such large goals. Rather, Donn is hoping his Ephs concentrate on each match singularly while placing all their focus on hard work.

“I told the team first thing when I met with them this fall that I did not want to set tangible goals of winning another Little Three, or a NESCAC Title or an NCAA Championship, because I think it puts unfair expectations on them; if any of those goals are not reached the season becomes a failure,” Donn said. “Our goal was to work as hard as we could on every aspect of our program and if we could look each other in the eye after the season and have accomplished that I'd be happy, no matter the results."

Williams went 2-0 in limited dual match play last fall, posting two 9-0 victories. Senior co-captain Dan Greenberg also provided ample optimism for the spring portion of the season by capturing the ITA Regional Championship and is currently ranked No. 3 in the country. The Ephs other senior co-captain, Gary Simonette — who will play at third singles this spring — is ranked No. 13 in the country in doubles along with Nick Lebedoff.

“Both Dan and Gary have done a fantastic job throughout the year motivating the team and setting an example with both their play on the court and their work ethic off it,” Donn noted. 

Dan Greenberg '08

Williams opens the spring schedule with a two-week spring break trip to California and Texas that includes five matches against teams in the top 25 and three in a row against the No. 3, 4 and 7 teams (Washington University, Claremont University and Trinity (Tx.) Uniersity, respectively).

The Ephs, ranked 9th nationally, have the talent and depth to take on such a schedule, said Donn

“We play an extremely difficult schedule starting with spring break,” he said “Upon returning from spring break we start up our NESCAC schedule which features six teams currently in the top 25. Our schedule, while demanding, truly prepares us for postseason play and I think it is important to play against the best teams, especially early in the season, so we can see where the team stands and what we'll need to improve upon."

Two juniors and two sophomores will help round out the singles line-up for Donn. Sophomore Lebedoff will play second singles, while Jeremy Weinberger will be at six. Junior Rick Devlin will play at five singles, while junior Karol Furmaga will be at four. Ari Binder, Ben Davidson, Kenny Taubenslag, Ben Kelley and Bret Thatcher  could also see time at singles and help fill out the doubles lineup.

Doubles is where Donn has placed his focus.

"We return a talented group of players from last year's Elite 8 team,” he said. “Our singles lineup has the potential to be strong at every position and we have spent a great deal of time working on doubles, an area we've been the most susceptible against the top teams in years past.  I've told the team all year, we cannot necessarily control how well we play each match, but we can control how hard we compete. Against the top teams, the margin for error is so small we'll need to be incredibly focused and mentally tough."

The Ephs open play March 19 against Point Loma University in San Diego.