1966 Hobart Tennis Schedule |
1966 Hobart Tennis Roster
The 1966 Hobart teannis team was led by Head Coach Robert Beaudry, Jr., and captain David Hemphill '66. The Statesmen began Beaudry's first season at the helm with a hard-fought 5-4 win at Rochester. Hobart suffered a 5-4 loss at St. Lawrence to even its record, but rebounded the following afternoon with a 9-0 whitewashing of Clarkson to kickstart a seven-match winning streak.
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Only twice during the closing run did Hobart have to sweat out a 5-4 decision. The first was a rematch of the season opener against the Yellowjackets and the second was the finale against Ithaca. The 8-1 dual match record marked the most wins in a season for the Statesmen, who had just completed the program's 29th varsity season. The record was unbroken until the 1969-70 team went 9-2.
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Between a 6-3 home win over Harpur College (now part of Binghamton University) and the season-ending defusing of the Bombers, Hobart captured the inaugural Independent College Athletic Conference Championship thanks to the exceptional singles play of Stan Mesnick '68 and John Wendell '67. Both players received byes to the second round and then won twice to reach the semifinals, both of Mesnick's wins were in straight sets, while Wendell gutted out a pair of three-set victories.
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Mesnick continued his impressive play with a 6-2, 6-1 win over RPI's John Shaw to book a spot in the championship match. On the other side of the bracket, Wendell had to contend with the Engineers' Sid Abrahams, a sophomore who entered the match unbeaten in his collegiate career. Wendell won the first set 7-6 (10-8) and advanced to the title match with a 6-1 triumph in the second set.
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Mesnick took the all-Statesmen final, completing his streak of straight set wins 6-2, 6-2. With two Hobart players in the singles final, the Statesmen held the tournament lead with 34 points. RPI could have surpassed them with a victory in the doubles draw, but St. Lawrence upset top-seeded Abrahams and Shaw to give Hobart an assist.
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The Statesmen won the crown by three points over runner-up St. Lawrence and by five points over third place RPI.
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