Entering this weekend's NESCAC Tournament, a competition featuring six of Div. III's top 25 teams, any finish among the top five teams would have been a welcome one for the Tufts men's tennis team.
The Jumbos more than achieved this goal with a third place finish, barely edging out four schools and finishing behind tournament winner Middlebury and runner-up Williams, the winner of the previous 11 NESCAC crowns.
The tournament played much like a dual match, with six flights of singles play and three for doubles. The top performer for the team in the tournament was junior tri-captain Rifat Perahya, who advanced to the semifinals of the number one singles flight and teamed with senior tri-captain Jon Bram to make the finals of the number one doubles flight.
In Sunday's number one doubles final, Perahya and Bram matched up against Amherst's Josh Rilla and Danny Babkes, a team they had defeated 9-7 in the regular season. The contest hinged on a missed match point volley hit by Bram that would have won the match for the Jumbos. Bram and Perahya never recovered from the miss, eventually falling 9-7 to the strong Lord Jeffs tandem.
Luckily for the team, Bowdoin did not capitalize on an earlier chance to move into third place and finished the tournament behind the Jumbos with 14.5 points. Tufts finished with 15 points, well behind Middlebury's winning 29 which edged out Williams' score of 26.
Coach Jim Watson, who has praised his team's play in spite of injuries all season long, was thrilled with the team's performance.
"The guys really stepped up," Watson said. "For us to finish ahead of good teams like Trinity, Bates, and Bowdoin is great."
Bates, Amherst, and Trinity were closely behind in fifth through seventh places with 13.66, 13, and 12.16 points respectively. Further behind were Colby, Hamilton, Wesleyan, and Connecticut College with respective scores of 5.99, 4.14, 3.99, and zero, to round out the field of 11.
Earlier on in the weekend, the team displayed great consistency with four of its six singles players advancing to the semifinals in their flights. Perahya led the way at number one singles by defeating Trinity's Brian Marsden 7-5, 6-1 in the quarterfinals before falling to Middlebury's Nathan Edmunds 6-3, 7-5 in the semifinals.
At number three singles, sophomore Ben Alexander had similar success, with a win over Wesleyan's Tallon Todorovich 6-3, 6-3 in the quarters before losing to the Panthers' Ari Beilin 6-4, 6-1 in the semis. Alexander's classmate Jon Rubenstein got through the quarters at number four singles with a 6-4, 6-4 triumph over Colby's John Fallon. Another Panther got the best of a Jumbo in the semis, when George Mayer, the flight's eventual winner, topped Rubenstein 6-2, 6-0.
Rounding out Tufts' top singles performers, freshman Corey Keller fought hard for a quarterfinal win over Bowdoin's John Posey (7-5, 7-6). Keller lost in the semis 6-3, 6-3 to Alex Scott, representing -- you guessed it -- Middlebury.
While no Jumbo advanced to a singles final, Watson had only good things to say about his team's depth and consistent play.
"To have four semifinalists is great in a very deep NESCAC," he remarked.
Perahya and Bram began their strong weekend with an 8-6 win over Bowdoin's Macafee Burke and Patrick Keneally. Their semifinal win was possibly their best performance of the weekend, as they defeated Middlebury's Mayer and Justin Ignolia 8-5.
Despite Middlebury's strength, Perahya maintained his and Bram's confidence going into the match.
"When Jon and I play well, we know that we can beat anyone in the league," the tri-captain said.
On the team's immediate radar is a match at Babson Wednesday afternoon to close out the regular season.
Although the Beavers are not the strongest opponent the Jumbos face, Bram and Perahya have added incentive in the upcoming match, as Babson's number one doubles tandem of Mike Brooks and Joe Martin is ranked ahead of them in the latest ITA Northeast poll. A win for the Jumbo pair would go a long way toward qualifying as a doubles team for nationals.
Tentatively, Tufts is scheduled to begin its postseason run this weekend with an NCAA Regional showdown against Bowdoin. When the two met in the regular season, it came down to the final match with the Jumbos edging out the Bears 5-4. The winner of that match will likely advance to meet the winner between Williams and Bates.
With the team's thrilling win over Bowdoin in mind, Perahya is optimistic for a positive result.
"I think we'll be able to beat [Bowdoin]," he said. "I have confidence in myself and my teammates."
