AMHERST, MA. – In the second meeting of the season between Little Three rivals, the Wesleyan men's tennis team dropped a 4-3 NESCAC matchup to No. 18 Amherst College on Saturday afternoon as the team was led by
Brett Keeling '27.
The Cardinals played a tough game, refusing to go down without a fight, as shown by the handful of tiebreaks through the lineup. The Mammoths were on the board early, clinching the first point of the day with doubles victories at No. 1 and No. 2. Keeling and doubles partner
Max Litton '26 defeated Albert Hu and Ronald Gulario, 6-3.
At No. 2,
Chase Kasday '26 and
Ryuto Saito '29 ran a contested match against George Chaidemenos and Rex Harrison as the final score fell to a 7-6 (8-6) win for the Mammoths.
Slotted at No. 3 through singles play, Keeling ran into Lukas Frangenberg and slipped to a 7-5 set one win. The match ran to extra games in set two to break the tie with Keeling ultimately finishing with the 7-5, 7-6 (7-5) victory.
At No. 2, Saito went toe to toe with Chaidemenos for a second time as he rallied an early lead but was forced to a tiebreak as Chaidemenos won set two. The tiebreakers fell in Saito's favor as the match ended in a 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (10-6) point for the Cardinals.
Chase Burke '29, playing at No. 4, ran through several obstacles to reach his final score against Aldiyar Abzhan. Burke clinched set one in a tiebreak but fell to a match tie as Aldiyar snagged a quick second set. Burke rallied to a three-point lead and defeated Aldiyar 7-6 (7-5), 2-6, 1-0 (10-7).
The Cardinals return to action on Sunday, April 26, in the regular season finale against Hamilton beginning at 2 p.m.
