Courtesy Williams Sports Information

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.  - Third-seeded Williams (11-4) dealt sixth-seeded Bates (10-5) a 5-1 loss to advance to the semifinals of the 2009 NESCAC Men's Tennis Championship Saturday morning against second-seeded Amherst College. The Bobcats and the Ephs squared off just ten days ago, with Williams taking the 7-2 win.

The doubles matches unfolded in similar fashion as from the previous meeting, with Bates’s top duo of Stein and Rupesinghe taking the win at court one and the following two wins coming at the hands of the Ephs. The match was knotted until the finish, when the visiting team took a 7-4 tiebreak. Nick Lebedoff and Will Petrie, and Jeremy Weinberger and Kevin Shallcross, tallied solid 8-2 and 8-3 wins for the Ephs, respectively.

With the match played to decision, Williams needed three wins in singles to take the match. Seniors Rick Devlin and Karol Furmaga took quick 6-1, 7-5 decisions at courts three and six, while Weinberger battled in a second set tiebreak to clinch the match.

Williams will face off against Amherst at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow. Amherst defeated Williams on April 12 in a tight 5-4 match. During last year's championship, the Lord Jeffs edged the Ephs 5-4 in the first round.

No. 3 Williams 5, vs. No. 6 Bates 1

Doubles
1 - Ben Stein/Amrit Rupesinghe (Bates) def. Bret Thacher/Dicken Chaplin (Williams) - 9-8 (7)
2 - Nick Lebedoff/Will Petrie (Williams) def. Max Berger/Ryan Mannelly (Bates) - 8-2
3 - Jeremy Weinberger/Kevin Shallcross (Williams) def. Zach Fenno/Mike Reiss (Bates) - 8-3

Singles
1 - Nick Lebedoff (Williams) vs. Ben Stein (Bates) - DNF
2 - Jeremy Weinberger (Williams) def. Amrit Rupesinghe (Bates) - 6-3, 7-6 (9-7)
3 - Rick Devlin (Williams) def. Max Berger (Bates) - 6-1, 7-5
4 - Will Petrie (Williams) vs. Mike Reiss (Bates) - DNF
5 - Kevin Shallcross (Williams) vs. Zach Fenno (Bates) - DNF
6 - Karol Furmaga (Williams) def. Mike Sherman (Bates) - 6-1, 7-5