CLAREMONT, Calif. — After starting off their spring break trip on the right foot against Division II Point Loma, the Ephs were handed their first Division III test of the spring semester as the Ephs took on the Sagehens of Pomona-Pitzer, and the the purple and gold triumphed, 5-4, on the back of sophomore Brian Grodecki’s tremendous effort at No. 3 singles to fend off a late comeback against veteran Sagehen Jonathan Kim to clinch the match for the visitors in a deciding set.

With the score level at 4-apiece, it was down to the match on court three, where the Eph sophomore really took it to the senior Sagehen from the outset, winning nine of the first eleven games on the way to establishing a set-and-a-double-break lead, 6-2, 3-0. Kim did not go down without a fight, however, as the California-native broke back twice in the second set to put the pressure on Grodecki. The Pennsylvanian didn’t make it easy, however, and earned himself an opportunity to serve for the match at 5-4, but the Sagehen drew on his wealth of experience to break back, hold serve, and then break again to send the match into a third and final set.

Both players had to face down their nerves early on, as they opened the deciding set with four consecutive breaks, but Kim and Grodecki, who alone had seen four straight service games slip away from him, eventually righted their respective ships and held serve all the way to 5-5. However, this time it would be Grodecki who would win the eleventh game of the set, engineering a break of serve at the crucial moment and then audaciously slamming the door on the match in the very next game.

“[Brian Grodecki’s match was] one of the best fights I’ve seen,” Williamscoach Dan Greenberg said. “He’s an unreal competitor, and that showed out there today.”

Complementing Grodecki’s match-defining efforts, the Ephs also contributed a solid team performance in the doubles portion, claiming the 2-1 advantage heading into singles.

With another day off ahead of them, the Ephs will venture back south to San Diego, where they will meet San Diego Mesa College on Friday, as they look to continue to build off their perfect start to the 2015-16 season.

Men’s Lacrosse
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – In a game played under the lights, the Williams men’s lacrosse team Wednesday beat Skidmore, 16-7.

Tanner MacIvor scored five times, and Miles McCarthy stopped 11 shots for Williams (3-2).

The Ephs will stay on the road as this weekend they will travel to Bates for a NESCAC game on Saturday before they head west to Colorado Springs. Bates is currently ranked sixth nationally. In Colorado the Ephs will play Colorado College on March 30 and Carthage College (WI) on April 2 before returning east.

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