Ephs win first match of spring season over #7 Gustavus, 7-2

CLAREMONT, CA. - For some, a couple of days in sunny California is a vacation, but the Williams men’s tennis team (3-0) had no time to relax as the spring season kicked off in competitive fashion with a match up against seventh-ranked Gustavus Adolphus (17-5). 

With only two duel matches under their belt thus far in the season versus the Gusties’ twenty-one matches, the fifth-ranked Ephs arrived in California ready to compete, and handed the opposition a 7-2 defeat.

“It’s always great to win our first match of the year, and to play against a top ten team was a good start to spring break,” commented Ephs head coach Dave Donn. 

The match looked competitive from the get-go.  Gustavus’ number one doubles pair grabbed an 8-5 win, while Williams’ Kevin Shallcross and Jeremy Weinberger won handily at court three with an 8-3 victory.  Nick Lebedoff and Will Petrie teamed up at court two to take an important lead heading into singles play.  Their match headed to a tiebreak, before the Williams tandem took care of business with a 7-3 breaker. 

The bottom of the Williams lineup proved particularly strong in today’s contest, with Petrie, Shallcross, and veteran Karol Furmaga tallying straight set wins at courts four, five, and six, respectively. 

The upper half of the singles lineup faced tougher competition, as Weinberger and Devlin were both involved in three-setters at courts two and three.  While Devlin wrapped up a win with a 6-4 third set, Gustavus’ Mike Burdakin tallied his team’s second point of the match against Weinberger.  Lebedoff was no stranger to tiebreakers today, and cruised through a second set breaker, 7-1, to take a victory at number one singles, 6-2, 7-6 (7-1).

Williams will take on Cal Lutheran on Thursday at 2:00 p.m. (PST).

Williams 7, Gustavus Adolphus 2

Doubles-

1) Charlie Paukert/Ben Tomasek (G) def. Bret Thacher/Dicken Chaplin (W) --- 8-5
2) Nick Lebedoff/Will Petrie (W) def. Mike Burdakin/David Koppel (G) --- 9-8 (7-3)
3) Kevin Shallcross/Jeremy Weinberger (W) def. Patrick Clark/Nicholas Hanson (G) --- 8-3

Singles-

1) Lebedoff (W) def. Paukert (G) --- 6-2, 7-6 (7-1)
2) Burdakin (G) def. Weinberger (W) --- 3-6, 6-2, 6-3
3) Rick Devlin (W) def. Benjamin Tomasek (G) --- 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
4) Petrie (W) def. Clark --- 6-3, 6-2
5) Shallcross (W) def. Hanson (G) --- 6-4, 6-1
6) Karol Furmaga (W) def. Ryan Hallsten (G) --- 6-0, 6-4