MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – The Skidmore College men's tennis team was knocked off by the defending national champion No. 11 Williams College, 5-4, in the NCAA second-round played indoors at Middlebury College's Nelson Rec Center.
The Ephs (15-7), who avenged a 5-4 regular season loss to the 20th-ranked Thoroughbreds, will take on the winner of the Middlebury/Babson match played later today. The regional final is slated for 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. Skidmore ends its season with a 14-8 mark.
Williams held a 2-1 lead after doubles play with two of the three matches going down to the wire. The Ephs took a 1-0 lead in the match when Brian Astrachan and Alexander Schidlovsky defeated
Miles Ransom and
Gabe Steerman 8-4 in the third spot. At number two, Skidmore's
Jimmy Sherpa and
Nick Tong trailed Jose Raventos and Rohan Shastri 6-4 before taking a 7-6 lead. The Ephs responded with three straight games to earn the 9-7 win. Skidmore gained its point at number one doubles, where
Oliver Loutsenko and
Danny Knight bested Matt Micheli and Conrad Harron, 8-6. The Thoroughbreds led 7-2 before the Ephs won the next four games to trail 7-6. With Williams on serve, Skidmore won the final game to emerge with the 8-6 win.
Skidmore tied the match at 2-2 when Loutsenko topped Micheli 6-3, 6-2 in the top spot. The Thoroughbreds took their first lead of the match when Knight topped Shastri 6-3, 6-1 at number two singles. Williams responded with a 6-2, 6-1 win by Schidlovsky over Ramson in the third spot to even the match at 3-3. The Ephs went on top 4-3 when Harron defeated Sherpa 7-5, 6-4 at number two to put Williams within one victory of securing the match.
The Thoroughbreds were up a set at five and six singles, with Steerman earning a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Weiss in the fifth spot to tie the match at 4-4.
Skidmore's
Kai Yuen Leung, brother of 2013 Middlebury women's national champion Lok-Sze Leung, held a one-set lead (6-3) over Jose Raventos, before falling in the second set, 6-4. The match came down to a third and final set between the duo, with a spot in the regional finals on the line. Raventos broke Leung to go up 4-2, and then serve held as he emerged with the 6-3 victory.
Loutsenko and Knight will both represent the Thoroughbreds at the NCAA Division III individual championships. Loutsenko was selected for singles, while he and Knight were selected for doubles.
#11 Williams 5, #20 Skidmore 4May 09, 2014 at Middlebury, Vt. (Nelson Recreation Center)
| Singles competition |
| 1. Oliver Loutsenko (SKID) def. Matt Micheli (WILLIAMS) 6-3, 6-2 |
| 2. Conrad Harron (WILLIAMS) def. Jimmy Sherpa (SKID) 7-5, 6-4 |
| 3. Danny Knight (SKID) def. Rohan Shastri (WILLIAMS) 6-3, 6-1 |
| 4. A. Schidlovsky (WILLIAMS) def. Miles Ransom (SKID) 6-2, 6-1 |
| 5. Gabe Steerman (SKID) def. Howard Weiss (WILLIAMS) 6-3, 6-3 |
| 6. Jose Raventos (WILLIAMS) def. Kai Yuen Leung (SKID) 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 |
