Lebedoff's heroics lead #5 Ephs past #3 Claremont, 5-4
Nick Lebedoff '10
CLAREMONT, CA. - Junior Nick Lebedoff was the hero of the day for the Williams men's tennis team. With a third set tiebreak knotted at 4-4, and a chance to defeat the third-ranked team in the country on their home courts, the Ephs' number one player showed incredible grace under pressure.
Defeating Claremont's Ronald Wang in the tiebreak, 7-5, Lebedoff captured the deciding point for a 5-4 Williams victory over the highly-touted California squad (17-4).
"It could not have been a better college tennis match," remarked Williams' head coach Dave Donn.
The Ephs showed their mental and physical toughness after a grueling week of competitive tennis. Today's contest was their third match in as many days, all against nationally-ranked opponents. Claremont may have been equally taxed, having mounted a great effort against #4 Middlebury just yesterday for a 5-4 win and their third straight victory over a ranked opponent.
After a disappointing loss to #10 Redlands yesterday, in which the Ephs lost all three doubles matches, Williams rebounded to take all three matches in doubles play. Williams' typically strong singles play was challenged by an equally talented lineup from Claremont, and the Stags took four of the first five singles matches to even up the total match score at 4-4.
Freshman Will Petrie contributed a critical win at court four, winning in a 7-5, 6-3 result over Russell Brockett. Rick Devlin, Karol Furmaga, and Jeremy Weinberger fell in straight sets. Freshman Kevin Shallcross appeared to have his match in control after a dominating 6-1 first set at court five, but Claremont's Eric Mac Coll took charge in the final two sets. Luckily, Lebedoff delivered at the top spot. After relinquishing the second set, 6-2, he battled in the tiebreak for the win.
"I was just very proud of our effort this morning," continued Donn. "We showed a lot of heart coming back fourteen hours after a tough loss to beat a very, very good Claremont team. It shows what our team is made of mentally, and I am just so proud of our effort."
The Ephs have finished off their first week of spring break with an impressive 3-1 record, having defeated two top ten opponents in Gustavus and Claremont. Williams will head back East for their final two spring break matches against Sewanee and Emory next week.
Williams 5, Claremont 4
Doubles-
1) Bret Thacher/Dicken Chaplin (W) def. Guillaume Schils/Lawrence Wang (C) --- 8-3
2) Nick Lebedoff/Will Petrie (W) def. Robbie Erani/Ronald Wu (C) --- 8-6
3) Jeremy Weinberger/Kevin Shallcross (W) def. Thomas Keiffer/Eric MacColl (C) --- 8-6
Singles-
1) Lebedoff (W) def. Wang (C) --- 7-5, 2-6, 7-6 (7-5)
2) Erani (C) def. Weinberger (W) --- 6-3, 6-1
3) Mikey Lim (C) def. Rick Devlin (W) --- 6-2, 6-2
4) Petrie (W) def. Russell Brockett (C) --- 7-5, 6-3
5) MacColl (C) def. Shallcross (W) --- 1-6, 6-1, 6-1
6) Victor Chien (C) def. Karol Furmaga (W) ---6-0, 6-3
