Stein stars for men's tennis in setback to No. 19 Trinity
April 25, 2009

Ben Stein '09 went 2-0 on the day, figuring in both of Bates' points. (Photo by Suzy Preston)
LEWISTON, Maine -- The No. 19 Trinity College men's tennis team defeated No. 24 Bates College 7-2 on Saturday in a NESCAC contest featuring many close individual matches.

Trinity evens its conference record to 4-4 and is 9-5 overall, while Bates falls to 4-5 in NESCAC play and 9-5 overall.

Bates senior Ben Stein and junior Amrit Rupasinghe (Colombo, Sri Lanka) defeated Spencer Feldman and Nick White at No. 1 doubles, but the Bantams won at Nos. 2 and 3 doubles for a 2-1 lead heading into singles.

Stein (Pelham, N.Y.) went on to notch an inspirational win over Feldman at No. 1 singles, 6-4, 1-6, 7-5. Stein was ahead 6-5 in the third set to get the break. At deuce, Feldman hit a big forehand, and Stein ran it down to muster a terrific defensive lob. With Feldman back at the net, Stein ripped a forehand cross-court winner out of Feldman's reach, giving him match point.

Trinity won the remainder of the singles matches, despite a few very close scores. Junior Mike Reiss (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) fell to David Yahng 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 at No. 4, and Rupasinghe fell to Gautam Samarth at No. 2 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Bates finishes up the regular season with another home NESCAC match tomorrow against Wesleyan, starting at 2 p.m., while Trinity finishes up at Colby tomorrow at 10 a.m.

For more on this story and what's going on with the Bates tennis teams, please catch up with us on the team blog at http://batestennis.wordpress.com/

Trinity 7, Bates 2

Doubles:
1. Ben Stein/Amrit Rupasinghe (B) def Spencer Feldman/Nick White (T) 8-3
2. Anson McCook/David Yahng (T) def Max Berger/Ryan Mannelly (B) 9-8(2)
3. Gautam Samarth/Charles McConnell (T) def Zach Fenno/Jeff Beaton (B) 8-4

Singles:
1. Stein (B) def Feldman (T) 6-4, 1-6, 7-5 
2. Samarth (T) def Rupasinghe (B) 2-6, 6-3, 6-2
3. McCook (T) def Berger (B) 6-3, 6-3
4. Yahng (T) def Mike Reiss (B) 6-4, 4-6, 6-4
5. White (T) def Mannelly (B) 7-6(2), 6-2
6. Adam Lanza (T) def Fenno (B) 6-1, 6-0