The mens tennis team traveled to southern California for its spring break training, where it competed against five top-tier teams, beating three of them. The Jumbos began the season with a renewed confidence, mostly due to the teams hard work in the off-season between the fall and spring.
This offseason the players got together and came up with a game plan to improve for the spring season, sophomore Rob Jacobson said. We spent lots of time in the weight room and worked extremely hard on our fitness. This team feels like we are the fittest team out there and looks forward to showing off our level of fitness by outlasting our opponents physically and mentally on the court.
The Jumbos rigorous schedule over spring break provided the perfect litmus test for their work during the off-season. In four days the team played five team matches against five premier schools: Denison, Sewanee, Pomona-Pitzer, Occidental and Trinity.
After playing its first four games against non-conference opponents, Tufts finally got its first taste of NESCAC play against Trinity on March 21 in its final match of the trip. But the Bantams bested the Jumbos 6-3 to hand them their second loss of the trip. The win was not an easy one for Trinity, as three matches went to three sets of which only Jacobsons ended favorably for Tufts.
Freshman Brad Wong won a close first set before going up 3-0 in the second, at which point his opponent retired. The third win for the Jumbos was at the No. 1 doubles position, where sophomore Nik Telkedzhiev and junior Brian Tan won a routine 8-2 match.
Jacobson considers his match a crucial learning point of spring break. The team goal of winning collectively was evident as the teams cheering spurred Jacobson onward to victory.
The Trinity match was very challenging and had a lot of momentum swings, Jacobson said. My opponent had a lot of powerful shots, especially off of his forehand, so I had to stay diligently committed to the game plan I discussed with [head coach Jaimie] Kenney and [assistant coach Karl] Gregor. In the end, the support and energy from my teammates and coaches carried me over the finish line, securing the team another point to fight back against Trinity.
The Jumbos were fortunate to have a day of rest before their match against the Bantams, as on March 19, they played their first team double header of the year. Tufts lost to No. 16 Pomona-Pitzer 7-2, but followed the loss with a win over Occidental 8-1.
The loss to Pomona-Pitzer was the teams first of the season. Two singles players came out on top for the Jumbos as Wong won a 6-3, 6-0 match in the No. 4 position, and classmate Kevin Kelly was able to dig out a close second set to win at No. 6 singles 6-4, 7-6.
However, Tufts did not let the loss to Pomona-Pitzer affect its play later in the day when it dominated Occidental. The only loss came at No. 1 singles, where No. 25 ranked Telkedzhiev lost 6-2, 6-1. Every other match ended in a straightforward win with the exception of Tans in the second position, who went to a third set, and that of freshman Ryan Rosen, who also went to a third set. Once in the decisive third set, however, both players started off well and never looked back, each winning his deciding set 10-1.
The previous matches against Sewanee on March 16 and Denison on March 15 provided much closer contests for Tufts, who won 5-4 and 6-3.
Against Sewanee, the team showed its ability to win the close match, which will serve it well as it gets deeper into the season. Wong and senior Zach Ladwig won the only two singles matches of the day at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively. Wong completed a routine 6-1, 6-4 win, but Ladwig battled for much longer in his 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 seesaw of a match over Sewanee junior Rand Jackson.
Tufts won all three doubles matches without much of a hitch as Telkedzhiev and Tan took the No. 1 doubles match 8-2, while Jacobson and Wong paired up to win the most one-sided match of the day, 8-1, at No. 2 doubles.
The Jumbos were also able to hold their own against the tough competition despite being a man down all week long.
Sophomore Jay Glickman, who typically plays among the top-three singles slots, sustained a wrist injury that sidelined him for the five spring-break matches. His classmate, Jacobson, looks forward to his return to competitive play.
He has been physically preparing as much as possible without further injuring the wrist, and we anticipate his return to full strength as soon as it makes sense for both himself and the team, Jacobson said.
By the end of the break, the Jumbos had a clearer assessment of both where they were as a team and where they have to go as the season progresses.
The week was definitely filled with highs and lows, but more importantly, we took away so much from our trip, Glickman said. Some of the teams we played out there were top tier in Div. III, and even the matches that we lost came down to only a few crucial points and games. Spring break was a great barometer for how we matchup against our competition.12
