The Jumbos came into the College Squash Association Championships last weekend at Harvard with something to prove. The team was seeded sixth in the Summers Division, consisting of teams ranked 17-24 in the nation, but the Jumbos thought they were a contender for the crown. All they had to do was convince everyone else.
Winning the first two matches of the tournament, the Jumbos looked to be on their way. However, Tufts fell in the final match to number one seed Colby in a 5-4 heartbreaker on Sunday.
The Jumbos started out the weekend ranked No. 22 in the nation and managed to defeat No. 19 Stanford decisively in the first round 8-1. Tufts went on to beat No. 23 St. Lawrence 7-2 on Saturday.
Though they came into the final match with momentum and what they felt was a slightly more talented squad, the Jumbos dropped the match to Colby in an agonizing fashion that was as close as it looked. Still, the Jumbos will most likely finish the season with a ranking of No. 18 in the nation, a ranking with which they are very happy.
"Overall I felt we played amazingly well for the weekend," No. 1 seed freshman Jake Gross said. "The team pulled together and even though we knew we were stronger than our seeding, a lot of other teams didn't and we really surprised them. Obviously a ranking of 18 isn't as good as 17, but we're happy with how we did."
Gross prevailed in four games at the top spot over Colby, which capped off an undefeated weekend for the rookie.
Freshman Kris Leetavorn, playing at No. 4, came back from a loss in the first game to pick up the win in four, and senior co-captain Fernando Kriete won in three games.
Junior co-captain Spencer Maxwell lost in three at the No. 2 spot, as did freshman Nelson Schubart at the third slot. One of the pivotal matches was at No. 6 where junior Tom Keidel played well but lost in a five-game battle 10-8, 0-9, 5-9, 10-8, 9-5.
"Tom played extremely well," Coach Doug End said. "The last three or four weeks he has played his best
squash ever; he was controlling the match and was dominating into the third game but the other guy just wouldn't say die."
Sophomore Dave Linz picked up the Jumbos with a win at No. 7 in four games. Junior Pranav Tripathi lost in four at No. 8 while sophomore Dominic Wong did the same at number nine.
"We were losing big early," Eng said of the Colby match. "We dropped the first few matches, so it was equivalent of an NBA team being down by 30 at half time, coming back to tie but then losing."
Despite the Colby loss, the team can look with pride on impressive wins over Stanford and St. Lawrence.
The Jumbos nearly shut out Stanford, with all the Jumbos winning their matches except Wong. Kriete was victorious in a very tough match at No. 5.
"Fernando played a great match against a very difficult opponent," Eng said. "Fernando's opponent got everything back; [he] was like Gumby out there."
In the match against St. Lawrence, Gross pulled out a big victory at No. 1 after losing the first two games of the match.
"The St. Lawrence match was sort of an epic," Gross said. "I knew my opponent was a solid player but he really came to play. I ended up pulling it together later in the match but it took about an hour and a half."
St. Lawrence had strength at the top of the lineup, taking the No. 2 and 3 matches, but the depth of the Jumbos paid dividends. The Jumbos won the other matches at spots four through nine.
The play of the Jumbos against Stanford and St. Lawrence helped them earn the respect of many in the tournament.
"Coaches from a lot of teams including Stanford were coming up to me and taking their hats off to us," Eng said. "A lot of them felt we were the best in the division."
Eng was also pleased with his team's performance, despite ending the season in such a close loss.
"We had a great weekend," Eng said. "I still feel we were the best team in that division and I think Stanford and their coach did as well."
Eng also found some comfort and pride in the close nature of the match.
"I told our guys you have to be proud of how you did. We lost by one point - if you lose the World Series in extra innings you can't be ashamed of that. We played our hearts out, and if they played Colby I think they'd win three of four, but sometimes it just doesn't happen."
