Before the men's tennis team's match against Merrimack even began on Wednesday, the Jumbos were handed two victories as a result of the Warriors' incomplete roster. Missing one player who was set to play both doubles and singles, Merrimack had no choice but to forfeit the two matches, giving an already confident Tufts squad an early lead that it did not relinquish on its way to an 8-1 victory.
"It put a different level of intensity on the match," said senior co-captain Sam Laber, about the missing players. "It didn't feel as much like a usual match, but we tried to amp it up like it was every other match and put that out of our minds."
The Jumbos took care of business, winning the two contested doubles matches to set the tone with University President Anthony Monaco in attendance.
In the first doubles matchup, junior Andrew Lutz and sophomore Matt Pataro found themselves in an early 3-0 hole but managed to quickly turn the match around to win 8-5. Then, the Jumbos hit their stride and the pair rolled off point after point, its confidence noticeably rising with each captured game.
"It looked like we were going to get crushed for a little while," Lutz said. "But we were positive and we did start turning it around and letting our opponents cool off as we hoped they would."
In the second doubles pairing, Laber and junior Mark Westerfield took care of business in a straightforward 8-3 victory, meaning that the Jumbos headed into the singles portion only needing one more win to take the match.
"It was nice to have that under our belt knowing that we only needed one more match to clinch," said Lutz, who helped seal that win with a 6-4, 6-2 victory in the No. 2 spot.
All of the Jumbos who came away with wins did so in straight sets, with the lone smudge on the score sheet being a loss from Laber, 7-5, 6-2, against Merrimack's No. 3 player Vince Bellino.
Even after such a convincing win, Lutz noted the Warriors' effort and their attempts to stave off what seemed like a certain defeat.
"We were especially impressed with Merrimack, that they came to play despite starting the match at a very big disadvantage," Lutz said. "That's something that we can definitely learn from."
In their last four matches, though, the Jumbos haven't had to worry too much about the pressure of fighting from behind, as they have won by a combined record of 34-2. The competition hasn't been the stiffest the NCAA has to offer, but the team has certainly been locked in over the past two weeks.
"Our coaches have been trying to get into our heads that every point counts, and that we need every point for every doubles and singles," Lutz said. "We've been trying to get everybody to focus on [their] match and act as if [they] are the one that has to win."
After practicing that mindset in the last couple of weeks, the time has come for the Jumbos to put it to the test in an environment where every point will be needed: Saturday afternoon's showdown at home against Bowdoin.
The Polar Bears were voted 10th in the nation in a recent poll, while the Jumbos have fallen out of the top 30; a victory could vault Tufts back into the rankings.
"Just playing Bowdoin will give us that edge back because they've got a target on their back," Laber said. "We've had close matches with them, and we know we can beat them." The atmosphere will be far different on Saturday than it was against the Warriors, but the Jumbos are hoping that the momentum gained from the last four matches will be enough for them to continue their roll and finish off a perfect homestand.
