The men’s tennis team traveled to Bates College on Saturday to take part in the Wallach Invitational, a two-day tournament with participants coming from all over the New England region.

The tournament included players from Amherst College, Middlebury College, Colby College, Bowdoin College, Trinity College, Skidmore College, Bates College and Tufts University and concluded on Sunday afternoon, though only one member of the Judges played on Sunday.

The team was well represented in the tournament overall, with nine participants in the singles matches and four pairs participating in the doubles matches.

The tournament also marked the end of the fall season for the men’s tennis team, which will pick up again during the winter with a series of meets in the middle of February. 

Co-captain Alec Siegel ’15 reflected on how he has handled the break in the past, saying it is a time to work on training.

“The break between seasons is bittersweet,” he said. “It's a great time to work on our fitness, since during the season we have limited time for off court work. 

“It's weird not having the coaches around, but we'll all have our fill of them come springtime, so a brief hiatus is healthy for all,” he continued.

Over the weekend, the team was focused on putting in a strong showing at the tournament. 

Brian Granoff ’17 had the most successful run, seeded fourth in the A Singles bracket. Granoff started off with a win against Tufts freshman Rob Jacobson 7-5, 6-1 in the first round and moved on to face Skidmore junior Kit Sanderson in the next round with similar success, winning in two sets 6-4, 6-0. 

Granoff eventually went down in the semifinal round of the A Singles bracket to Middlebury sophomore Ari Smolyar, the bracket’s top seed, to cap off an impressive showing at the tournament with a run to the semifinals on Sunday.

Granoff was not the only one who saw wins on the day. Ryan Bunis ’17 made quick work of his first opponent in the A Singles bracket, Bates senior Henry Lee, winning 6-3, 6-0. His day came to an end in the next round, where he was defeated by the bracket’s second seed, Colby sophomore Carl Reid, 6-3, 6-0. 

Ethan Saal ’18 was also able to make it out of the first round of the tournament, playing in the D Singles bracket, getting a win over Skidmore freshman Teddy Berkowitz to move out of his first round matchup. 

His day also came to an end in the next round, where he fell to Middlebury freshman Will De Quant 6-3, 6-0. 

Michael Secular ’15 was the only other member of the team to earn a singles win. Secular got the win against Tufts freshman Justin Brogan 6-3, 6-2 in the first round of the D Singles bracket, but he fell in the next round as well. 

Matthew Zuckerman ’14 M.A. ’15, Eric Miller ’16, Michael Arguello ’17, Danny Lubarsky ’16 and Siegel all fell in the first round of singles play in the four singles brackets.

In doubles competition, three of the four pairs to participate managed to move on past the first round of play, but none of them managed to get further than that. 

Jeff Cherkin ’17 and Arguello teamed up in the A Doubles bracket as the top seed to take on the Tufts pair of freshman Zain Ali and senior Brian Tan, and they came away with the 9-7 win. 

Cherkin and Arguello fell by an identical 9-7 score in the quarterfinals in their matchup with Trinity junior Ford Traff and senior Musyoka Mbithi.

The pair of Lubarsky and Granoff got a win in the A Doubles bracket as well, winning comfortably against the Middlebury team of Smolyar and senior Peter Heidrich by a score of 8-3. 

Like their ranked teammates, Lubarsky and Granoff fell in the quarterfinals, to the pair of Skidmore Sanderson and junior Nick Tong by a 9-8 (3) final score.

Siegel and Saal teamed up for a win as well in the B Doubles bracket, taking down a pair of Bowdoin players with a 9-7 final score but then went down to Trinity in the next round by an 8-5 final. 

The doubles pair of Eric Goldberg ’18 and Secular could not get past the first round of the B Doubles bracket, going down to Middlebury juniors Jackson Frons and Allen Jackson by a score of 8-2.

Siegel says he has high hopes for the spring season, anticipating a strong year for the team when they return from the break.

“This is the closest team I've ever been a part of,” he said. “There are no bad seeds and not too much in terms of friction. We're mostly on the same page and I'm excited to see what we can do this spring.”

The Judges’ season will resume on Feb. 17 with their annual mid-winter trip to California.