The men's tennis team ended its regular season on Wednesday, suffering a rare defeat at the hands of Bates. But the squad is still in a good position for this weekend's NESCACs and for regionals, which will be held in a few weeks.
The team was beaten 5-2 on Wednesday as it once again played without its regular number-three player John Brahm. "We need John," coach Jim Watson said. "It's pretty evident."
Still the men's tennis coach did not attribute the loss strictly to the absence of Brahm. "Bates is a very solid team," Watson said. "I knew we would be in trouble and they just played a little better than we did."
The only players to win were number-one junior tri-captain Dave Ruttenberg and number-two freshman Rifat Perahya. Ruttenberg was victorious 6-3, 6-1 and Perhaya won 6-4, 6-4.
The team is pleased with the 9-3 record it has compiled. "It was much better than I ever thought we would do," senior tri-captain Mark Fitzgerald said. "The team has done real well."
For Fitzgerald, the sun is setting on a four-year tennis career at Tufts. "Fitz will be a huge loss for us," Ruttenberg said. "Fitz retiring from Tufts is like Jordan retiring from the Bulls."
"It was good," Fitzgerald said of his time on the tennis team. "I made some of my closest friends on the team. Our coach was really good too."
Looking back on the regular season, the team is satisfied - but the players also realize that complete success is still a ways off. "We have been able to compete with every team we have played," Ruttenberg said.
If the team is to achieve postseason success, Ruttenberg and Perahya will need to maintain the key roles they have held throughout the season. "Rifat is ridiculous" Ruttenberg said. "He is one of the ten best players in the country in my mind."
The addition of another freshman, Adam Yates, has added to the team's depth.
The team heads into the postseason poised to make a run both in NESCACs and in regionals. "We are in a very good spot for the post season," Ruttenberg said. "We will probably be the fourth seed in the east for regionals."
Coach Watson is cautiously optimistic about his teams chances. "There are a lot of tough teams in the NESCAC," he said. "You got to be in tough form or else you will be in trouble."
The NESCAC tournament, which is to be held at Amherst college this weekend, will feature six different singles tournaments and three doubles tournaments. Each tournament will involve the same seeds from different teams competing against each other.
"It's a fresh start for the playoffs and we will see what happens," Ruttenberg said.
