Tufts sees early season success, starts 4-2

Tufts began its 2015-2016 campaign on a high note, starting the season 4-2 -- an early indication that this season could be more successful than the last. Last year, the team went 6-15. This year, after just six games, the team has already earned two-thirds of the wins it had last season. After dropping the first two games of the season, including a narrow loss to Stanford and a blowout loss to University of Virginia, Tufts is on a four-game winning streak, having defeated Boston University, Bryant University, Hamilton, and Brandeis by large margins.

The Jumbos completely shut out the Brandeis Judges 9-0 in dominating fashion on Nov. 23, the most recent of the team's four straight victories. Senior co-captain Aditya Advani, again playing in the first singles position, took home a victory for the Jumbos, posting a dominating 11-4, 11-6, 11-3 score. Out of all the dominating victories on the day, however, sophomore John Patrick's victory was perhaps the most emphatic. Patrick won his match 11-2, 11-1, 11-3 in the eighth position. The victory over Brandeis showed that the team has the capability to completely obliterate opponents.

The day before, Tufts played Hamilton at Harvard, defeating them by a margin of 6-3. In the first singles position, Advani defeated Hamilton's Tucker Hamlin, dropping the first set 9-11 but recovering to take the next three sets 11-5, 11-8, 11-4. First-years Alan Litman, Cameron Ewan, Aiden Porges and Imran Trehan, along with sophomore Sandeep Rishi all scored key victories for Tufts -- especially Ewan, who was in a back-and-forth match until he took the victory in five sets (13-11, 8-11, 11-3, 5-11, 11-8).

"We met one of our goals of the season, which was to get a NESCAC victory [against Hamilton]," Advani said. "The first two teams we faced this year are more competitive than us, and it is early in the season, but I think in a few months we would have seen a better result playing them."

The weekend before Thanksgiving break was when the Jumbos began to heat up. In the first game of the weekend on Saturday, Nov. 21 at Belmont Hill, Tufts defeated Boston University by a score of 7-2.In the first singles spot, sophomore Braden Chiulli lost to the Terriers' Marwan Salam in four games, 7-11, 11-6, 8-11, 8-11. But Tufts picked up big victories in the second through sixth positions, as well as the eighth and ninth positions, including a big comeback win by Ewan (12-14, 9-11, 11-6, 12-10, 13-11) and a five-set victory by sophomore Alec Goodrich (13-11, 6-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-5).

Later in the day, the Jumbos faced off against the Bryant University Bulldogs, also defeating them by a 7-2 margin.Tufts was led by Litman's victory over Bryant sophomore Chase Ruben in the first singles spot, posting scores of 11-6, 3-11, 11-5, 11-6. Litman took the first set by a comfortable margin and was able to recover for the victory after being blown out in the second. First-years Porges, Imran Trehan and Matt Memmo as well as Patrick, junior co-captain Danny Fischer and Goodrich also took home easy three set victories for Tufts.

Before the Jumbos got on the hot streak, however, the team started the season 0-2 on losses to Stanford and Virginia at Harvard on Friday, Nov. 20.In the first match of the season, the Jumbos lost 5-4 to the Cardinals -- the same score as their matchup last season. In the first singles position, Advani was blanked by Stanford's Yousef Hindy, who won with a score of 11-6, 11-3, 11-1.Litman, in his first collegiate squash match and playing in third singles position, scored a big five-set victory, as did Chiulli, playing in the second singles position. Ewan, also in his first collegiate squash competition, lost a five-set heartbreaker in the fourth position. First-year Brett Raskopf took home the victory in the eighth position with a score of 13-11, 11-9, 11-9.

Hoping for improvement, the Jumbos played the Virginia Cavaliers later that day but were blanked as Virginia posted a 9-0 score. Litman and Goodrich were both able to play their opponents to a fourth set, but unfortunately fell as the Jumbos could not get anything going.

"So far the season has gotten off to a good start," Patrick said. "I think the key to winning four straight matches after losing the first two was just the fact that we needed to get re-accustomed to playing in matches and dealing with the pressure that goes along with these types of tournaments. Once we were able to get back into the swing of things, though, it all worked out."

This year's squad is very young; Advani is the lone senior on the team among six first-years. Advani and Patrick both believe that the first-years have played key roles in the team's early success.

"The freshmen have created a huge impact within our team this year," Patrick said. "Both last year and the year before, we have struggled with the depth of our team and being able to win games in the 6-9 positions. This year, though, all of the freshmen are extremely talented and provide us with a chance to win those middle matches."

Tufts will next compete at Haverford College on Saturday, where they will take on both Dickinson College and Haverford. On Sunday, Tufts will face off against NESCAC opponent Conn. College, to whom they narrowly lost 4-5 early last season, and 0-9 later in the season.