The men's tennis team stepped up its game in the final week of the season, but against two of the NESCAC's elite teams, it wasn't enough.
Coming off of an 8-1 loss to Amherst on Sunday, the Jumbos fell 9-0 to Williams on Tuesday in Williamstown, Mass. The Ephs improved to 15-2 overall and 7-1 in the NESCAC with the win and maintained their ITA ranking of
No. 4 in Division III. Despite the zero on its side of the scoreboard, Tufts (8-7, 2-6 NESCAC) put up formidable battles, especially in doubles. Coach Doug Eng called the doubles play, as well as the overall quality of tennis, some of the best he has seen this season from his team.
"We are playing a lot better doubles now than before," he said. "If we were playing the way we are now, there are two or three matches we could have won; Colby and Brandeis would have been W's. Williams is just very good at doubles, so the score didn't really indicate how well we played."
"It's totally night and day," senior captain Will Fleder added. "Williams wasn't so indicative of our level of play, but we thought we played pretty well across the board in doubles. It took us a little while to get our lineup in order, and it's just too bad it didn't happen earlier."
At first doubles, Fleder and freshman Paul Kohnstamm fought to a close 8-6 loss against senior co-captain and No. 3 ranked player in the nation, Daniel Greenberg, and freshman Bret Thacher.
"They were broken in the last game, down 7-6," Eng said of the doubles loss. "If you are not getting your first serve in, that is a problem, and Williams took advantage of it."
Fleder said that the same season-long problems plagued him and his partner as they attempted to pull out a very tight match.
"We just needed to pull out the big points," he said. "We had at least six or seven break points that we didn't capitalize on. We had a chance to break at 6-6 and have me serving for the match, and we were pretty confident that if we won that point, we could have taken the match. We played really well, but it was disappointing not to be able to pull it out."
The other doubles matches were contested but never within reach for the Jumbos, as freshmen Jake Fountain and Tony Carucci dropped second doubles 8-4 and sophomores Andrew Rosen and Daniel Landers fell 8-2.
In singles, Tufts did not fare any better facing an incredibly strong lineup and still missing some key starters. All six singles matches ended in straight sets, as Williams showed why it is ranked No. 4 in the nation.
"To be honest, I think we were pretty outmatched," Fleder said. "I'm not sure it was any of our best tennis, and they are a great team. We knew going in we didn't have much of a chance of beating them in singles because we have always struggled against them in the past."
In Fleder's now-completed career at Tufts, the Jumbos have managed just three match victories total in four years of playing the Ephs. However, the senior said that he was impressed with the way his team came out and played.
"Four years ago, we had a similar thing where we played Williams in a meaningless match at the end of the season," he said. "I remember everyone couldn't wait to get off the court. But this year, people were excited to play and prove that we are a good team against one of the best teams in the country. I am definitely satisfied with how we played."
Since Tufts did not receive one of the six bids to the NESCAC Tournament, the match marks the end of the season for Eng's team. Including their fall campaign, the Jumbos finished with an 8-7 record, going just 2-6 in conference play.
Eng, who is on the NESCAC Tournament selection committee, said that Tufts would have had to take at least three more conference matches, especially those against Bates and Colby, to have been competitive for a spot. Considering that the Jumbos only lost a 5-4 decision to the Mules and that their 7-2 losses to the Polar Bears and Bobcats were much closer than the scores indicated, that feat was not far from reality.
The match was also the last time that Fleder will play tennis for Tufts. The senior has been the Jumbos' No. 1 for the past two years and has led a very young team this year as its only senior.
With the Jumbos out of contention for the NESCAC Tournament, all attention turns to three teams who are surely top picks to win the conference. Trinity, Middlebury and Williams all have nearly identical resumes; each has just one loss in the conference, coming against one of the other two.
The triangular battle made the seeding of these teams difficult, but ITA No. 9 Trinity wound up with the first seed partially due to the team's 14-1 overall record, spotless except for the 5-4 defeat at the hands of Middlebury, the tournament's second seed. Despite ranking No. 4 in the nation, Williams wound up with the No. 3 seed in the NESCAC Tournament, but the Ephs are certainly on the same echelon as the top two seeds.
With three high-powered teams all looking for a NESCAC crown, it will certainly be an interesting tournament. With little to tell these teams apart, home-court advantage may prove to be a valuable asset for the Trinity Bantams.
