Santa Cruz outslugs Ephs in NCAA quarterfinals, 5-0

CLAREMONT, CA -- A solid campaign came to a conclusion today for the Williams College men's tennis team when it was defeated, 5-0, by the University of California-Santa Cruz in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament.

The Ephs finish their 2008-09 campaign 14-6 while the Banana Slugs improved to 17-7 and advanced to the semifinals Wednesday against Emory University.

The Ephs fell into a 3-0 hole after doubles play. Bret Thacher and Dicken Chaplin dropped an 8-4 decision at one doubles to Max Liberty and Ilya Gendelman. Nick Lebedoff and Will Petrie had a brief lead at second doubles, but eventually fell to Jared Kamel and Marc Vartbedian, 9-7. At three doubles, Jeremy Weinberger and Kevin Shallcross dropped an 8-5 decision to Max Ortiz and Colin Mark-Griffin.

"We came out quick, the guys were ready to play today," Eph head coach Dave Donn said. "But give credit to Santa Cruz, they have some good players and they pulled out a few more of the big points today - especially in the doubles."

UC-Santa Cruz put the match away with straight set wins at two and five singles. Kamel defeated Weinberger, 6-2, 6-2, at second singles, while Mark-Griffin swept Shallcross, 6-0, 6-2, at five singles.

"Overall, I thought we played pretty well today," Donn said. "It's always tough when you lose, but I thought we had a good season."