It was a mixed week for the Jumbos as they chalked up impressive victories against Connecticut College on Wednesday and Northwestern on Sunday, but dropped matches to Bowdoin and Bates on Saturday.
The week sent Tufts away from the Hill, as they bussed to Connecticut College on Wednesday and then headed north to play Bowdoin and Bates on Saturday before finishing up play on Sunday at Harvard for their match against Northwestern.
"We had a pretty good weekend," coach Doug Eng said. "We hoped Bowdoin's match would be a bit closer, but Bates is a very strong team and we had a good win over Northwestern."
The Jumbos prevailed in a number of close matches to defeat Northwestern 8-1.
Freshman Jake Gross picked up an easy victory, winning 9-0, 9-2, 9-0. Junior co-captain Spencer Maxwell won in four games at the number two spot, dispatching his opponent by a score of 9-2, 9-5, 3-9, 9-1.
Freshman Nelson Schubart came back from a 0-2 deficit to beat his opponent in five, and senior co-captain Fernando Kriete also prevailed in a tight five-game match.
Freshman Kris Leetavorn won in three games at the number five spot, while sophomore David Linz posted a victory at number six with a win in four games.
Juniors Tom Keidel and Pranav Tripathi both won in four games at the seventh and eight slots, respectively. The only match the Jumbos dropped came at number nine, where freshman Jonah Peppiatt lost in four games.
"Northwestern is a feisty, deep team," Eng said. "It was a tough match because it was our third of the weekend, but it was a good win and I think we played well."
On Saturday, a talented Bates squad dispatched the Jumbos with relative ease. Even Gross, who has been a force for the Jumbos all season, fell in three games to Bates freshman Ricky Weisskopf.
"Jake's loss to Bates was half-expected," Eng said. "We knew his opponent was very, very strong. He's ranked number three for the El Salvador National Team."
"Ricky's just an awesome player," Gross said. "He was on his game and a lot of the games were close. It was really high quality squash."
Bates easily took the matches at numbers two, three, four and five in three games each. Linz managed to win the first game at number six, but he still lost the match 5-9, 9-0, 9-1, 9-4. Keidel suffered a similar fate, as he also managed to pull off a victory in one game but dropped the match 9-2, 9-6, 4-9, 9-6. Tripathi and Peppiatt lost in three at number eight and nine, respectively.
The Jumbos had hoped to pull off an upset against Bowdoin, but it was not meant to, as the Polar Bears prevailed 8-1.
Gross continued the strong play he has shown all season, winning at the top spot with a score of 9-2, 1-9, 9-6, 9-2. Maxwell, Schubart, and Kriete all were defeated in three games.
Leetavorn put up a tough fight at number five, but he fell in five close games. Linz lost in three games and Keidel lost in four. Tripathi and Peppiatt both lost in three games to close out the match.
"We were hoping the match against Bowdoin would be closer," Eng said. "We were hoping to win two or three more points in that one."
Gross echoed the disappointing nature of the loss, and alluded to the scheulding of the match.
"The Bowdoin match was a little disappointing because we hoped to surprise them," Gross added. "It was early in the morning and I think everyone on the team was a bit sluggish, including me."
Earlier in the week the Jumbos pulled off a key 6-3 victory against Connecticut College, a team that had been ranked higher than Tufts.
The Jumbos held strong at the top of the lineup, with Gross, Maxwell, and Schubart all notching victories. Leetavorn, Keidel and Tripathi accounted for the other three wins in the match.
"Connecticut College was a real nice win for us," Gross said. "We knew they were ranked above us but that we could probably win. So it was good to just go in, get the win and get out of there."
The Jumbos are looking to take a more aggressive approach in their upcoming match against MIT on Wednesday.
"Right now to get better we need to work on our drives and cut off balls early so we get the shots we want, instead of the shots our opponents want," Eng said.
Wednesday's match will be the last of the regular season before the Jumbos enter tournament play, which will start with the five-man team championships played at Trinity next weekend.
"We're really looking forward to the five-man tournament because there will be a lot of great competition," Gross said. "It will also be great preparation for nationals."
