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For three consecutive years the freshman tennis team has gone undefeated, and, if Saturday's 9-0 rout of Amherst is any indication, this year could be number four.
Corey Wynn's squad swept all of the singles and two of the doubles in straight sets, and even in the third doubles, which the Crimson took 6-3, 5-7, 6-2, there was never much doubt who was going to win.
But relatively weak Amherst is not Princeton, Andover, or Yale, and Wynn is clearly expecting trouble from these traditionally tougher squads. If his team is to stretch its winning streak it will have to eliminate some of the sloppy tennis it showed Saturday.
Appleby Polishing
Playing number one, Dick Appleby polished off Amherst's Chris Kaufman 6-2, 6-0. Although most of the games displayed a particularly fine backcourt game, and was in command throughout the afternoon.
Things didn't go so well for Nick Hoogs (2)--but his trouble was only transitory. Having fallen behind 4-1 in the first set, he rallied to win 6-4 and then took the second set 6-1. Hoogs plays very aggressively, rushing to the net every chance he gets. Even while were long and hard fought, Appleby losing, he did not abandon this style. In fact, many of the points he lost were merely a matter of bad timing, his shots falling at the net or going out of bounds.
Brian Davis (3) played alternately brilliant alternately sloppy tennis, although his mistakes didn't show up in the score: 6-0, 6-1.
Yoshi Akabane (4) hits the ball softly, doesn't play a fiercely agressive game, and waits for his opponent to make errors. Saturday he was able to outwait Amherst's Al Wilde, 6-4, 6-2, in the day's longest singles match. Yoshi doesn't look like a racquet whiz, but as one court side observer put it, "He beats more good tennis players that way."
Wrapping It Up
The Crimson wrapped up the number five and six spots with case as Dudley Blodgett polished off the Jeffs' Steve Hannes 6-2, 6-0 in a half an hour. Five minutes later Rick Spalding won his match with Perry Pickert 6-0, 6-2.
Amherst coach Ed Serues decided to give his reserves a chance to play in the doubles, and consequently the Crimson found its first-line players matched against the second stringers. The scores in the first and second doubles showed this: the Crimson won 6-0, 6-2 with Appleby and Davis in the top spot and 6-3, 6-1 with Hoggs and Blodgett on the second team. Hoggs' quick game at net was highly effective.
Good Depth
Despite the trouble Yakabane and Spalding had winning the third match, coach Wynn commented the "I like the way my boys are playing in the doubles." However, he has good reserves in such men as Dean Bauer at number seven, and will undoubtedly experiment with some different lineups.
Other scores:
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