WALLA WALLA, Wash. -- Whitman's Steven Ly, the Northwest Conference Player of the Year, was no match for Scott Mackenzie, a senior from national powerhouse Williams College, in Saturday's opening round of the NCAA Div. III National Singles Championships, which are taking place at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Va.
Ly, a junior who had not played a competitive match in nearly a month, dropped a 6-0, 6-4 decision to Mackenzie in a match that began at 9 a.m. East Coast time. "The time change makes it tough," Whitman coach Jeff Northam said. "We were up and around at 6 a.m., or 3 a.m. our time. It's not easy to make those adjustments."
"Steven was sluggish in the first set and really didn't play very well," Northam added. In the second set, Ly bounced back with an early service break and led 3-1. Mackenzie scrambled back to take five of the next six games to close out the match.
"Mackenzie is a very good player, and he's a very seasoned player at the national level," Northam said. "It was great to see Steven come back and play well in that second set."
After beating Ly, Mackenzie advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-2 afternoon victory over Adam Morgan of Gustavus Adolphus College. Mackenzie plays Argentina's Arturo Solis, a junior at Washington College, in one of Sunday's quarterfinal matches.
Mackenzie had played three matches earlier in the week as Williams placed fourth in the NCAA Div. III Team Championships. That marked the 10th consecutive appearance for Williams in the team championships. The Ephs won back-to-back team titles in 2001 and 2002.
Prior to Saturday, Ly had played his last competitive match April 22 in the NWC championships. He had continued his training since then.
Ly was the only NWC player to get an invitation to the 32-player national singles tournament.
Dave Holden, Whitman Sports Information, (509) 527-5902
Email: holden@whitman.edu