No. 3 men’s tennis (10-1, 4-0 NESCAC) swept No. 45 Connecticut College (8-5, 1-5 NESCAC) in a 9-0 victory last Saturday. The win extends the Ephs’ four match win streak, moving them to second place in the NESCAC, one game behind perennial rival No. 21 Amherst (10-2, 5-0 NESCAC).
The Ephs started strong in second doubles, with Simon Volkema ’26 and co-captain Shawn Berdia ’25 beating Camels pairing Sigmund Winiecki and Jules Taylor-Kerman in a blazing 8-0 match. In third doubles, co-captain Andrew Chong ’25 and Kush Anand ’27 took an 8-2 victory over James Serhant III and Walker Mulligan soon after.
In first doubles, co-captain Matt Kandel ’24.5 and Leon Liu ’27 landed a 8-3 triumph against Camels Jared Leong and Aaron Fleishman, furthering the Ephs’ lead.
Throughout the match, the Ephs faced strong winds and freezing temperatures but continued to build their lead.
“I’m proud that, up and down the line, everybody came out and did their job with good energy and got the job done in pretty rough conditions,” Kandel told the Record.
Following the doubles victories, Kandel won first singles with a double-set win over the Camels’ Arjun Premkumar, setting the Ephs’ lead to 4-0. Liu continued the streak with a second double set victory during fifth singles, with teammate Chong following suit during sixth singles. Anand then collected another straight-set victory in fourth singles.
Nicholas Chen ’26 said that the match reflected the team’s effort to have a strong season this year. “I think our goal is to find our way of being comfortable on the court for every match, because usually that leads us to playing well, which can help us win,” he said.
Berdia then faced a nail-biter against Taylor-Kerman for second singles, facing a three-set tiebreaker during which he solidified the Ephs’ victory.
After losing the first set 4-6, Berdia fought for a final victory during the match point — responding to a backhand from Taylor-Kerman by diving to reach the passing shot and the sweep.
For Berdia, the dive was one many moves that helped the Ephs secure the sweep. “I’ve done it before, but I’m not sure if I’ve done it on a match point, or a point as big as that one,” he said. “It was pretty instinctual.”
During Berdia’s match, Volkema also faced a tough match in fourth singles, finding himself down 4-1 after landing a victory during the first set. However, a 7-5 victory during each set was able to cement the Ephs’ sweep.
“It was super windy and hard to control the ball, but I stayed mentally tough and came out on top,” Volkema wrote to the Record.
Next weekend, the Ephs will head back to Connecticut for a weekend of NESCAC matchups, where they will face Wesleyan (3-8, 2-3 NESCAC) on April 13 and Trinity (9-3, 3-1 NESCAC) on April 14.
Kandel also discussed the size of the men’s tennis team, which is currently at seven members, and said that it has contributed to a healthy team culture throughout the season.
“I really think that seven [teammates] has been a blessing for us,” Kandel told the Record. “Our team culture is at a spot where we really like it and everybody’s super close. You know, we have seven brothers on the team, which is really a privilege.”
According to Kandel, the Ephs are fired up for the season ahead of them, in which they will face NESCAC opponents in each of their six final matches. “We definitely have the belief that we can compete with anybody,” Kandel said. “We definitely hope to win the NESCAC and go on and try to win the [NCAA] National Championship this year.”
