Beginning its season with a trip across New York this weekend, the men's squash team emerged with as many wins as it racked up during all of last season. After finishing the 2000-20001 with a record of 3-13, the team now sits at 3-1.
"I think we're a better team this year," senior co-captain Colin O'Higgins said. "We've got a couple of freshmen in our lineup and the top three are the same."
After losing only two seniors, the team enters this year with its top three men in tact: senior co-captain Neil Pallover, junior Chris Choi, and O'Higgins. Along with the new influx of freshmen, coach Doug Eng and his team enter the winter season with high hopes.
The team's main vision is focused on improving its performance at Nationals. Of the teams that enter the tournament, the groups are broken down into three divisions where brackets of eight teams each are formed. After competing in the third bracket last year, Eng hopes to move up to competing in the second division bracket or to win the third division bracket. While these hopes are high, Eng believes that his team has a good chance at accomplishing these feats.
Along with the high expectations at Nationals, the men also hope to break the top 20 in the national rankings. Hovering around the top 20 at the finish of every year, the team is currently ranked 20th in the nation and hopes to move up by the time the season comes to an end.
The greatest challenge facing the Jumbos is that they are forced to spend a significant amount of time practicing and playing at Harvard, since the Tufts facilities do not meet international specifications. According to Eng, constantly being on the road is a handicap for the team, meaning that they must raise their level of play, lacking a home court advantage of their own.
The division of practice courts has also impeded the team building process, a major focus of the mid-November New York trip. Playing four matches in twenty-four hours, the trip was the first time the team was entirely together this season.
Facing a strong team in Vassar to begin its season, Tufts edged out the opponent for a tough win. A critical five-game win by freshmen Jason Krugman clinched the victory for the Jumbos as they defeated Vassar 5-4. The Jumbos entered the match expecting to beat Vassar, though the absence of fourth seeded, freshman James Chung due to a personal conflict, paired with the surprising strength of the their opponent made the victory much tougher than the team had anticipated.
"It was a very good win considering the conditions," Eng said.
The opening victory included losses from two of the top three men, Neil Pallaver and Chris Choi, yet Eng was not concerned about their play losses.
"We have a very solid one, two and three even though the scores don't show it, I expect they'll do better," Eng said.
After defeating Vassar, the Jumbos went on to defeat Bard decisively, 9-0. They continued their streak the next day, beating St. Lawrence at Hobart, 8-1 on Sunday. Sunday afternoon the men were handed the season's first defeat in a 0-9 beating from Hobart. Despite the loss, team spirits remain high as Hobart was a stronger team than they had expected.
"They're a much better team than we are and they deserved the win," O'Higgins said.
Overall, the coach was pleased with the weekend performances, and especially the team's toughness against Vassar. Winning close matches will be the team's greatest challenge over the course of the season.
"What it's going to come down to is how we perform in the clutch," Eng said.
While the team finished its weekend with a strong performance, it faces its first NESCAC opponent this weekend against Wesleyan.
"Wesleyan on Sunday will be a big match, they're a tough team to beat," O'Higgins said.
After losing 1-8 to the Cardinals last year, the team hopes to find retribution. But to do so will require the Jumbos to win on the road.
"We don't have much leeway against them, we have to go in there and play hard," Eng said.
