As the season draws to a close, the men's tennis team is putting every past experience together and manufacturing wins when it matters most.
The Jumbos, currently ranked fourth in the Northeast region, easily won both of their matches this past week, trampling Babson College 5-2 on the road on Wednesday and Brandeis 6-1 on Tuesday.
"[It] was a nice momentum booster, but by no means were they matches we should lose," senior tri-captain Paul Roberts said of the pair of wins.
Although the Jumbos were not at full-strength against Babson, Tufts had no problems stepping up to win the non-conference match. Things started out on the right foot, as Tufts won the doubles point to open the match. Junior Corey Keller and sophomore Will Fleder won at number two while the new duo of senior tri-captain Jon Rubenstein and sophomore Kenny Leavitt had no trouble at three, winning easily by a score of 8-4.
The shake-up came in an effort to secure the all-important doubles point, something the Jumbos have not done consistently this season.
"We switched up the doubles lineup because winning the doubles point against any team is a must," Rubenstein said.
Two key players sat out the match, as senior tri-captain Ben Alexander was sidelined with a recurring arm injury and junior Sean McCooey sat out with a groin injury, respectively.
The only pair to lose their doubles match was Roberts and junior Matt Gallin. They were downed 8-4 by Babson sophomores Jeremy Stein and Jason Lynn.
As the Jumbos took to the courts at Babson for the singles match-ups, Tufts had no trouble earning the three necessary points to clinch the win, sweeping five of the six matches in just two sets. Fleder won at number two and Rubenstein followed suit at three. Keller moved up in the line up to the fourth spot, winning 6-4, 6-3. Freshman Vihn Tran made his dual-match debut a strong one, downing Kyle Matichioni 6-1, 6-2. Junior Craig Kunkes rounded out the lineup, defeating junior Amit Nar 6-1,6-1 at number six.
The lone loss in singles came at the top spot. Roberts has had a tough year at number one, and his struggles continued on Wednesday, losing a close first set in a tiebreaker and then dropping the second set.
Keeping stride, the Jumbos beat Brandeis the previous day. Tufts hosted a full line-up for the match as they exhausted the Judges 5-2. This win lifted Tufts' record to 5-7, while it moved Brandies' record to 6-8 overall.
The Jumbos once again dominated in doubles, winning two of the three matches to take the pivotal doubles point. The pairing of McCooey and Rubenstein won at the two position, downing Hart Comess-Daniels and Scott Schulman 8-6. The pairing is now 4-7 on the year shifting between the number one and two doubles. Keller and Fleder also easily won at the three spot, 8-2. However, the Jumbos were unable to sweep the doubles matches, as Roberts and Gallin were defeated 8-3.
The doubles point swings the momentum to either team; the point can be a mental barrier or an encouraging boost. According to Rubenstein, the mental aspect of the game has been huge for the Jumbos this year, and he gives much of the credit to coach Doug Eng.
"Coach Eng has done a really phenomenal job coaching us this year," Rubenstein said. "He preaches mental toughness, and so far that has helped us in the all the matches, especially the bigger ones."
With Tufts up 1-0, the singles matches took the court, with Tufts prevailing in four tight matches. Fleder easily won his first set only to face a determined Brandeis junior Jordan Bieber. Fleder was held on 7-5 in the second set to improve his singles record to 8-8 on the year. McCooey and Keller were strong at the end of the lineup, winning both their matches and clinching the match for the Jumbos. Rubenstein also faced a challenging battle, outlasting junior Cliff Silverman at number four, 7-5, 6-4.
"Against Brandeis, I was down 5-1 in the first set and then won six straight games, and then in the second set I was down 4-0 before winning six straight games again," Rubenstein said. "I was able to watch my opponent completely break down emotionally."
Roberts and Alexander met another fate, as both captains fell to their Judges opponent. Roberts lost in 6-1, 6-2 to junior Sam Jonas, and Brandeis freshman Scott Schulman outlasted Alexander in three sets 6-3, 4-6, 10-6.
Currently at 6-7 in the spring season, the Jumbos have two dual matches remaining, and will have to win both to finish above .500. They will need a win over Bates this Saturday if they want to make the NCAA regional.
"We have to beat Bates or else we are out," Roberts said. "We are going to treat the match as if it were the first round of NESCACs. We have worked hard all season and hope to make the regional playoffs."
