The talent differential was simply too much for the Jumbos to overcome Friday. Tufts dropped all nine matches to seventh-ranked Brown, and the 14th-ranked Jumbos managed to extend only one match beyond the three-game minimum.
The loss drops the Jumbos' overall record to 8-6, but only one of those eight wins has come against higher-ranked teams.
Despite the loss, coach Doug Eng was not upset with his team's effort, given the level of competition the Jumbos were up against.
The disparity in recruiting between Tufts and a school like Brown and the injuries that the Jumbos have faced lead Eng to consider this season a success thus far.
"Its like if Boston College defeated Tufts University by a score of 86-54 in basketball, you certainly would not be unhappy with that result," coach Dough Eng said, referencing the loss at Brown on Friday. "Schools such as Brown and Williams work with different admission standards, so it is hard for us to compete against such schools."
Senior co-captain Eliza Drachman-Jones echoed these sentiments.
"When you face a team such as Brown, a team you know is much better than you, you set personal goals and try to take something away from the match. It can be used as a morale booster," she said.
The Jumbos were once again playing without two of their key players. Health-related issues are expected to sideline sophomore Erica Adler for the rest of the season and Nida Ghouse remains out with a leg injury. While Ghouse says her leg is feeling better, she is not expected to play in the Jumbos' match against Connecticut College on Wednesday. The team hopes to have her back this coming weekend when they face Bowdoin and St. Lawrence.
"We have been missing a couple of players each match. Our health has only been at about 75 percent. It's like going into a basketball game with two starters missing," Eng said.
Coach Eng thinks there are many areas in which his team can improve. One of the critical problems for this woman's squash teams has been patience, reflected in their preference to hit drop shots as opposed to hitting the ball deep.
"It's like the difference between shooting three pointers and going inside in basketball or throwing long passes in football as opposed to developing your ground game," Eng says. "It all comes down to improving our backhand and exploiting other teams' backhands."
Freshman Rebecca Rice played in the most competitive match of the afternoon, although victory was not within reach. She was the only Jumbo who managed to win a game against her opponent, defeating Brown's No. 2 player sophomore Zarah Rhaman 9-7 in the second game before Rhaman captured the final two games to win the best-of-five match.
"It was exciting to win a game. I had a better attitude after the first game and coach told me to keep the ball deep and keep the rallies going," Rice said.
Drachman-Jones commented on her teammate's win.
"For Rebecca to win a whole game, shows that she sets tough goals for herself, works hard, and remains focused. Rebecca has been playing really well for us all year long," she said.
In the No. 1 match, Tufts sophomore Julia Avruton came up against the star of the Brown squash team, losing 9-0, 9-3, 9-0. Eng would like to see his top competitors play better than the recent performance against Brown and last week's 5-4 loss against William Smith, in which the top three competitors all lost their matches.
Tufts faces off against Connecticut College in their next match, a team they beat 7-2 in their season opener. Still, the team is not taking anything for granted.
"We are confident, but not overconfident. We recognize that that was the first match of the season and Connecticut College could have improved a great deal. In squash, especially with injuries, anything can happen." Drachman-Jones said.
