NORTHAMPTON — Eli Ji needed a pick-me-up.
The Amherst Regional junior trailed Northampton sophomore Aidan O’Brien 5-1 in the second set of their No. 2 singles boys tennis match. Ji won the first set, but O’Brien appeared ready to force a third.
Amherst senior Nathan Ji had wrapped up his match already and made his younger brother an offer, “Win this (set) 7-5 and I’ll buy you noodles from Mom’s House (in Amherst).”
“My motivation spiked,” Eli Ji said. “My power levels went way up.”
He won the next six games to clinch the win 6-4, 7-5 and remain undefeated on the season. Eli Ji also rallied in the first set from 4-1 down, winning five games in a row.
“I noticed he was getting tired, so I kept hitting to his backhand,” Eli Ji said.
His rallies proved decisive, as Eli Ji’s win at No. 2 singles clinched the match for the Hurricanes, 3-2, Monday at JFK Middle School.
Amherst (8-1, 4-1) quickly built a 2-0 match lead.
Austin Xiong finished first at No. 3 singles, dispatching Jake Duggan 6-1, 6-1.
“I was relaxed, my arm was very loose,” Xiong said. “I just felt free.”
Nathan Ji and Andrew Ni beat Northampton’s Galen Winsor and Jack Denhart 6-2, 6-1. They’re also unbeaten this year
“They’re really sharp, crisp doubles players,” Amherst coach Jeremy Wise said. “They’re tough, I’m glad I don’t have to play them.”
Stefan Johnson stabilized Northampton (8-2, 2-2) at No. 1 singles. He fought through a 6-4 first-set win before settling in for a 6-1 win in the second set over James Serhant.
“I was making a lot of errors going for way too much too early,” Johnson said. “I started to be more consistent and place it more.”
Northampton’s top two singles players are underclassmen. Johnson is a freshman, while O’Brien is a sophomore.
“They may be young, but they have a lot of experience,” Northampton coach Doug Winsor said. “They’re leaders on the team despite being young.”
While O’Brien’s loss to Eli Ji clinched the match for the Hurricanes with their third win, the final score was still up for grabs at No. 2 doubles.
Northampton’s Asa Geller and Chris Raphael-Reily won the first set 6-4 against Ethan Yu and Sachin Khashu, and built a 5-2 lead in the second set. Yu and Khashu won four games in a row to tie the set at 5, then the teams alternated games to go to a tiebreak. The Blue Devils prevailed 10-8 to end the match on an uptick.
“They hung in there,” Doug Winsor said. “You could tell they were upset about it, but I think they took their upset feelings and dug in deeper.”
Amherst has only lost one match this season, a tight 3-2 affair to Longmeadow over April vacation.
“We have a lot of depth,” Xiong said. “Some times we can edge strong teams if we’re better at one or two spots.”
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com.