Jumbos secure three NESCAC wins

While an athletic season is often regarded as a marathon rather than a sprint, the saying probably does not hold true for the Tufts men's tennis team. After stumbling in the season opener at Bates, the Jumbos quickly rebounded and ran off three consecutive victories in the NESCAC to bring their record to 3-1 both overall and in the conference. With four matches already behind it, Tufts is nearly halfway through a regular season squeezed into a four-week timeframe.

In their most recent action, the Jumbos took to the road and handily defeated Connecticut College 7-0, handing the Camels their fourth consecutive loss to open the spring. In the match, sophomore Paul Roberts at fourth singles and freshman Sean McCooey at sixth singles each continued strong beginnings to their season and maintained undefeated records. The first doubles tandem of tri-captains Jon Bram and Rifat Perahya also hung on to their unblemished record.

Junior tri-captain Adam Yates, who is currently out with a knee injury and might not return this season, is impressed with the play of his teammates, especially the underclassmen, in his absence.

"[Due to the injury], everyone on the team from the second position on down has had to move up in the lineup," Yates said. "I'm happy with how everyone is playing, especially Sean McCooey and Paul Roberts."

Despite Yates' physical absence on the court, coach Jim Watson views him as an extremely valuable member of the team.

"The biggest disappointment of the season has been the absence of Adam on the court," Watson said. "But he loves the team and comes to all of the games and practices. He's like an assistant coach to me."

On Monday, Tufts was victorious in its home-opener, this time securing a 6-1 result over Amherst, who fell to 2-3 with the loss. In the match it was Perahya who stood out, fighting back from a set down to win at first singles over the Jeffs' Josh Rilla (3-6, 6-1, 6-2). Perahya's singles record currently stands at 3-1. Also impressive against Amherst was Roberts, who needed three sets to close out Jeff Lawrence (6-2, 2-6, 6-4) at number four.

The Jumbos secured their first win of the spring on Saturday with a 5-2 result over Wesleyan in Middletown. This time, it was sophomore Ben Alexander who needed to work through three sets to get the win over the Cardinals' Tallen Todorovich at third singles (3-6, 6-2, 2-6). Alexander's record now stands at 3-1. Wesleyan fell to 6-5 with the defeat.

The injured Yates made his only appearance of the season in the opener at 15th-ranked Bates before spring break, where the Jumbos fell 6-1. After dropping the first set 0-6 and falling behind 0-1 in the second, it was clear that the injury was affecting him, and he retired from the match. Roberts was the sole Jumbo victor in the Bates match, defeating Michael Hoverman at fifth singles (6-4, 6-3).

Watson felt that the timing of the match before spring break contributed to the team's rather flat showing at Bates.

"We should never lose to them 6-1," Watson said. "They had already had their spring break and had played some good teams, so they were in better match shape."

Still ahead for the Jumbos are back-to-back matches this weekend, as they travel to Middlebury to take on the fourth-ranked Panthers on Friday afternoon before returning home to take on second-ranked Williams on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. According to Watson, the squad will face its two toughest opponents this season in Middlebury and Williams. While it is certainly aware of the quality of its upcoming opponents, the team is optimistic for success.

"We match-up well with Middlebury," Yates said. "Even though they're ranked higher than we are, we have the stronger team."