Tufts falls to Bowdoin in tight match to close regular season

The men's tennis team was defeated by the No. 8 Bowdoin Bears on Friday by a score of 5-4 in the Jumbos' final contest of the regular season. The No. 30 Jumbos end the season ranked sixth in the NESCAC with a 4-4 record, which is good enough to qualify them for a bid in the NESCAC tournament, beginning this Friday.

In doubles action, junior Nick Telkedzhiev and first-year Rohan Gupte secured the Jumbos' lone doubles victory, defeating first-year Luke Tercek and junior Luke Trinka 8-3. The first-year duo of Zain Ali and Griffin Brockman was edged 9-8 by senior co-captain Noah Bragg and first-year Kyle Wolfe of Bowdoin.

In singles action, Telkedzhiev and Gupte were also victorious, winning their matches 6-2, 6-2 and 5-7, 6-0, 6-2 respectively. Ali also won his match 6-2, 6-3.In the final match of the day, Bowdoin junior co-captain Kyle Wolstencroft defeated Tufts junior co-captain Rob Jacobson in a hard-fought battle that went to three sets. With the win, Bowdoin improved to 12-4 in the regular season and 5-3 in the NESCAC.

Despite the team's defeat, Jacobson remained upbeat.

“The biggest thing is that in the middle of the season, when the team hit some bumps along the road, my co-captain Brian Tan and I tried to implement the mindset that things are not always going to go our way, and we can only control so much,” Jacobson said. “We just keep a positive attitude and keep on working hard. When we are flying on all cylinders we are a tough team to beat."

Despite ending the regular season with a loss, the Jumbos have won five of their last six matches after the starting the season 3-6.The Jumbos will find out who they are matched up against in the NESCAC tournament after NESCAC regular season play finishes up.

“No matter who we play [in the] first round, I think we like our chances,” junior Nick Cary said. “Not only because of confidence, but I think people are hitting their stride toward the end of the year, and that’s where anyone wants to be. We have been known for our depth, but I think we have all been pleasantly surprised by the guys at the top playing really good singles. It's always nice knowing that there are guys at the top that can secure a few points for you.”

Jacobson was also excited for the upcoming postseason run.

“We are all very excited to play,” Jacobson said. “There are no guarantees in tennis, and there was no guarantee that we would make it, so I think we are all pretty excited and motivated for a very good weekend. We have all been playing very well. Momentum is turning in our favor in terms of results.”

As of now, Tufts is slated to play No. 4 Amherst in the opening round -- a team that defeated the Jumbos 7-2 earlier this season. If Tufts moves up after this weekend, it could face No. 6 Middlebury, which also defeated it earlier this season by a score of 6-2.

This Tufts team, however, is much different from the one that lost five games in a row earlier this season. After huge wins over NESCAC rivals No. 14 Williams and No. 20 Bates, the Jumbos are in prime position to make a run in the tournament.

“We feel confident,” Cary said. “We had a good home stretch. We swept on a day we had two matches scheduled, [and] I think that was big in terms of gaining confidence. I think there is some work to do both in double and singles prep, but I think we like the spot that we are in.”