14th-Ranked Jeffs Win Third Straight, Blank UConn

March 30, 2006

AMHERST, MA – The fourteenth-ranked Amherst College men’s tennis team won their third straight 7-0 match on Wednesday afternoon, blanking the University of Connecticut. The Jeffs improve to 7-2 with their first win of the season over a Division I opponent, while the Huskies fall to 3-9.

Amherst swept the singles matches as seniors Josh Rilla (Westboro, MA) and Jon Godsall (Toronto, Ontario), junior Lenny Lepner (Tartu, Estonia), and sophomores Mike Mintz (New York, NY) and Jeff Wan (Staten Island, NY) all claimed victory in straight sets. Sophomore Tal Avrahami (Riverdale, NY) needed three to down UConn’s Ben Schueler: after splitting 6-3 sets, Avrahami triumphed in the tiebreaker, 10-7.

Lepner and Rilla prevailed in the No.1 doubles match, and Avrahami and Wan secured the doubles point with a win at No. 2. Husky sophomores Christian Malerba and Joey Michaels claimed UConn’s only match of the day, an 8-4 victory at No. 3 doubles.

Amherst returns to action today (Thursday), hosting NESCAC and Little Three rival Wesleyan University at 3 p.m.

Amherst 7 – UConn 0
SINGLES RESULTS
1. Lenny Lepner (A) def. Sho Sato (6-3, 6-0)
2. Josh Rilla (A) def. Craig Helstowski (6-2, 6-0)
3. Mike Mintz (A) def. Joey Michaels (6-3, 6-1)
4. Jon Godsall (A) def. Christian Malerba (6-2, 6-3)
5. Tal Avrahami (A) def. Ben Schueler (3-6, 6-3, 10-7)
6. Jeff Wan (A) def. Jeff Klar (6-2, 6-0)

DOUBLES RESULTS
1. Lepner/Rilla (A) def. Sato/Schueler (8-4)
2. Avrahami/Wan (A) def. Nate Carvalho/Joel Gamoran (8-4)
3. Malerba/Michaels (UC) def. Godsall/Geoff Schwarts (8-4)