Thursday, April 3, 2008

Match Preview: #3 Williams vs. #11 Amherst (April 5)

Maybe the biggest rivalry in Division 3 sports will be on display in this matchup of top 12 teams. Amherst started slow with a bad loss to Emory but recovered with a good win against DePauw. They haven't really been tested in D3 since then. Williams looks very good with first-year coach David Donn really emphasizing hard work. Williams destroyed a very good Wash U team in singles, which was a surprise to everyone. If Williams can dominate this match against a tough Amherst team, we can call them a legitimate national title contender. In singles, I think that Williams has the edge at all of the top 3 postions, but I like 4, 5 and 6 to potentially go to Amherst. In doubles, it's really a tossup, but I'll give it to Williams because they have been more match tested this year than the Jeffs. I would expect to see a 6-3 or potentially 5-4 win for Williams.

Probable Starters:
1. Greenberg/Thacher (W) vs. #23 Lerner/Doerfler (A)
2. #21 Lebedoff/Simonette (W) vs. Wan/Schwartz (A)
3. Furmaga/Devlin (W) vs. Mintz/Avrahmi (A)

1. #10 Dan Greenberg (W) vs. #8 Zack Lerner (A)
2. #48 Nick Lebedoff (W) vs. Sean Doerfler (A)
3. #39 Gary Simonette (W) vs. #44 Mike Mintz (A)
4. Jeremy Weinberger (W) vs. Jeff Wan (A)
5. Karol Furmaga (W) vs. Moritz Koenig (A)
5. Rick Devlin (W) vs. Daniel Kim (A)