Photo by Charlie Quigg '09 Senior Lenny Lepner has been a force at No. 2 singles and doubles this season.

Jeffs Reach Second Straight NCAA Tournament, Set to Face MIT

May 6, 2006

AMHERST, MA - The 22nd-ranked Amherst College men’s tennis team was awarded its second consecutive trip to the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament on Monday and will face off with No. 17 MIT on Saturday at 1 p.m. at fourth-ranked regional host Middlebury College.

The winner of Saturday’s matchup advances to face the host Panthers on Sunday at noon. Amherst (13-7), which has already fallen to Middlebury twice this season, most recently a narrow 4-3 defeat in the NESCAC Semifinals, advanced to the NCAA Tournament Regional Finals last season. The NEWMAC-Champion Engineers enter the tournament at 12-2, having not played Amherst or Middlebury this season.

Senior co-captains Josh Rilla (Westboro, MA) and Danny Babkes (Baltimore, MD) have been a key part of the Amherst lineup this year, competing individually at No. 1 and 3 singles, respectively, and occasionally teaming as the Jeffs’ top doubles pair. Fellow seniors Lenny Lepner (Tartu, Estonia) and Jon Godsall (Toronto, ON) continually highlight a strong singles lineup at No. 2 and 4, respectively, while Lepner has teamed with sophomores Michael Mintz (New York, NY) and Geoff Schwartz (Dallas, TX) in the No. 2 doubles slot. Rookie Zach Lerner (Scarsdale, NY) has been solid in the No. 5 singles position, and sophomores Tal Avrahami (Riverdale, NY) and Jeffrey Wan (Staten Island, NY) have seen time at the No. 6 spot. Avrahami and Wan have also seen plenty of time as the Jeffs’ No. 3 doubles tandem.

For further tournament information click here.