The men's squash team experienced both success and setback this past week, as coach Doug Eng's squad battled to a 6-3 victory over rival MIT Thursday, only to fall two days later to the Bates Polar Bears 9-0 on Saturday.
"We had to beat [MIT] because they were only a spot below us," junior Colin O'Higgins explained. "We haven't beat them in years, so for us to come out with a victory was a great feeling."
Freshman Arman Kamenov echoed his teammate's sentiments about the victory. "Its been six years since we beat them," Kamenov noted. "It was a crazy feeling."
Kamenov's performance was a main reason behind Tufts' success Thursday, as the freshman battled through a five-game match to secure a victory for the Jumbos. After falling behind two games to one, Kamenov won the last two games 15-12, and 13-12 to take the victory at the number four spot.
"I started off slowly but then was more aggressive on the court," Kamenov noted. "I usually tend to be a defensive player. But [Thursday] I started to challenge my opponent. And it seemed that at the end it was whomever was not as tired."
Despite losses at the first three spots, Kamenov's success was matched by the lower half of the ladder. Seniors Dylan McPhetres and Bennet Kolansinski, along with Bennet's younger brother Jordan, a freshman, enjoyed 3-0 victories. Junior Shayan Hague and freshman Nathan Anderson each took their matches with little difficulty as well and rounded out the victories for Tufts.
The bottom half of the squad sealed the win for the Jumbos Thursday, but the efforts at the top three spots did not go unnoticed. MIT's Eric Hong defeated Tufts' junior Neil Pallaver in a tough, five game match at the top spot. Sophomore Chris Choi and O'Higgins also succumbed to their Engineer opponents. Their consistent play at the top spots, however, has allowed the players in the lower half of the bracket to grab multiple victories for the team throughout the season.
"Chris [Choi] and Neil [Pallaver] have played well all season," Kamenov explained. "They have been facing some of the top players in the country and have done very well against them."
Unfortunately, none of the Jumbos could hold on to Thursday's successes when they traveled to meet Bates in Lewiston, Maine two days later. Bates, ranked five spots ahead of Tufts, won the match easily nine to zero.
"We expected them to be strong," O'Higgins said. On Saturday, "strong" proved to be an understatement, as the Jumbos were simply overcome by a stronger Bates squad. Although the Bobcats are positioned several spots ahead of Tufts in the national rankings, a realigned Tufts lineup also figured in the loss. Eng was forced to move each player up the ladder one spot to compensate for Choi, who missed the meet due to personal reasons.
The loss dropped the Jumbos' record to 8-8 just over two weeks before nationals. The loss to the higher-ranked Bates team, however, will not likely affect Tufts standing for the nationals. In men's squash, the 40 teams in the country are separated into five different national tournaments, each with its own champion. Eng and his squad expect to go into the tournament ranked as a fourth seed in the third division of nationals, provided the Jumbos are able to secure a few more solid victories over the next two weeks. Their first chance to do that will come tonight, when they square off against a formidable Conn. College team at Harvard.
"Conn. College is close to us in the rankings, but I think we can take them as a team," Kamenov said. "They are much better than last year, but I think if we play well we will pull out a victory."
