With a record-breaking five-game winning streak under its belt, the men's squash team was reminded in this weekend's NESCAC Tournament at Trinity College that all good things must come to an end.
After advancing past Conn. College in the first round of the conference tournament with a resounding 8-1 victory on Friday, the seventh-seeded Jumbos were matched on Saturday with some of their stiffest competition all season — nationally ranked No. 10 and eventual NESCAC runner-up Williams.
Having shut out Tufts in late November, the Ephs repeated history thanks to solid performances throughout the ladder. While the top three in the Jumbos' ladder sent their respective matches into four sets, most of the Tufts lineup could not hold the line against the second-seeded Williams squad that took most of the matches in straight sets.
"We've played Williams already and knew they were a very good team," senior co-captain Zach Bradley said. "We just wanted to try and compete at some spots. We worked hard and made a push to keep some of the matches tight."
The Jumbos hoped for greater success in the consolation bracket on Saturday, when they were pitted against the nationally ranked No. 18 Amherst Lord Jeffs, who are ranked one spot above the Tufts squad.
In the No. 6 position, first-year Sheldon Taylor rallied back after losing a 2-0 lead to take the match in five sets, while senior Scott Leighton pulled off a four-set victory in the No. 8 match.
"Sheldon getting a win at six was huge," Bradley said. "Amherst won the key points when they really needed to buckle down and get it. I think it was the turning point in some of the four-game matches we lost. It was just close at a lot of spots, and that day they were the better team."
The Jumbos also unexpectedly picked up a win at No. 1 when Amherst junior Brian Warner defaulted due to a minor injury incurred in a previous match. The Jumbos, however, found it difficult to finish on four separate matches that each went into four sets, as the Lord Jeffs dealt Tufts a 6-3 loss.
"For Amherst, we were disappointed with the final score; we thought it would be a 5-4 match," Leighton said. "We started strong, but they took the matches in the middle of the lineup. I think overall, however, we've been pretty good at taking the close matches this season, like against Colby."
In the final consolation match of the weekend, the Jumbos posted a come-from-behind win against the nationally No. 25-ranked Hamilton Continentals, getting Tufts back on track after a disappointing Amherst finish.
Against the Continentals, the Jumbos pushed seven out of the nine matches into four sets, with junior Andrew Kim edging his opponent in the fourth set 12-10 in the No. 9 position. Following the losses to Williams and Amherst, the Jumbos' 6-3 victory over Hamilton pushed their overall record back above .500 to 10-9.
"We were down 3-1 at one point in matches against Hamilton, so to pull off five wins in key spots was great," Bradley said. "Hamilton was lower in the rankings, but they just got some players back from injuries, so they're close to us in skill level. It was a good way to close off the weekend."
"We've played some close matches against Hamilton over the past few years, and I think we had a mental edge over them," Leighton added.
Last Tuesday, Tufts got a chance to warm up for a long slate of NESCAC Tournament action with a match against the No. 32 Northeastern Huskies in Boston. The Jumbos gave up just one match in the 8-1 decision.
In the No. 6 match, Taylor eked out a win in straight sets in a 14-12 third-set victory, while junior Ben Rind clinched the No. 5 game with three consecutive 11-7 sets.
"Northeastern has a bunch of good players, but we came out with confidence that we were going to win," Bradley said. "We carried that through from warm-ups to the matches, and that was a part of winning by such huge margins."
The Jumbos suffered a slight drop in the national rankings to No. 19, and the road ahead may prove increasingly difficult for Tufts to produce wins. The Jumbos now enter their final weekend of regular season matches before the Nine-Man Nationals later this month and then the CSA Individual Championships in March. However, Brown and Dartmouth loom on the slate for this weekend, and both are ranked in the top 15.
"Brown is a match we should expect to find some success in," Leighton said. "We're expecting it to be very competitive. Dartmouth is going to be one of the toughest opponents all season, but it'll be good preparation for Nationals."
"NESCACs is a long weekend and it's put some wear and tear on everyone," senior co-captain Max Dalury added. "We're looking at this weekend like we would any other. Just because we're playing strongly ranked opponents this weekend, we're not going to play any less than we would against other opponents."
