The Tufts men's tennis team fell to Bates 3-4 last night in a match that had no shortage of momentum changes, drama and head-turning rallies. The Jumbos made a valiant comeback after trailing Bates 3-1, but could not chalk up a win in the end.
Junior Paul Roberts won a critical match which raised the Jumbos' spirits. After splitting the first two sets, Roberts was able to survive leg cramps and hold on for the victory.
"Coach came over to talk to me after my opponent made it 5-4 in third set. I was more concerned with my cramping than anything else. This was a test of my mental toughness." Roberts said.
Roberts is also not shy about the influence of having mom and pop watch his matches.
"My parents were so disgusted with my play that they left during the second set, only to return during the third set," Roberts said. "I don't think it's a coincidence that I started playing better as soon as they returned."
Roberts' victory set the stage for what would have been an exciting win for the Jumbos, as the team's number six and seven players needed to win their matches for a Tufts victory.
The entire Jumbo team was chatting on the sidelines, munching on bagels and cheering on their teammates, signaling their renewed hope as sophomore Matt Gallin and junior Jon Rubenstein were sweating it out on the court.
Gallin, the Jumbos number seven player, lost the final two sets of his match to give Bates the victory during his match, as his opponents ground strokes were simply too much.
"I should have beaten that kid. No ifs, ands, or buts," Gallin said. "You have to give him credit; he stepped up his game and won the big points. In the second set he dominated me and in the third set, it was just solid tennis."
Bates earned the one doubles point, as it won two out of three matches. Tufts second doubles team of Geoff Loh and Sean McCooey won their eight game pro-set by a score of 8-5.
"For me personally, it was great to get back playing well together. We got a break early on and just ran with it," McCooey said. "We were able to hold our serve which was critical to our victory.
Tufts number one doubles pair of Perahya and Rubenstein fell short in an afternoon that featured tough losses. The team lost nailbiting matches in which most of members will be recounting single points that could have changed the match.
"Yes we played a tough team. We should have won. We were up 7-6 and they broke our serve," Perahya said. "You cannot do that against a team like this and expect us to win."
That's an all too familiar phrase when playing tough competition. Perahya also lost his singles match, 6-4, 6-2. Perahya, however, was less disappointed about this loss.
"Simply put, I ran into maybe the best player in the NESCAC conference." Perahya said, referring to junior William Boe-Wiegaard. "Overall, though, I hit the ball pretty well in my singles match. He just played better than I did."
The tennis match featured an abundance of back and forth rallies. The players seemed to get stronger as the game went, showing little signs of fatigue. It was not a match for pushers. Players who won the points were usually the ones who made the shots.
"There is no big secret why Bates came out on top," coach Jim Watson said. "They attacked more than us. It is as simple as that."
"This will give us early test of our team's character," Watson said when asked about his team's ability to respond after a tough loss. "Are we going to pack it in because we had some first match jitters or are we going to use this as a learning tool? It is our choice."
Bates realized they had defeated a tough team, as they could chalk up an early season accomplishment.
"It was intense competition out there. The Jumbos know how to keep rallies going. They are very consistent. It forced us to keep our focus all match long," Bates senior Sam Duvall said.
One of the bright spots of the day was the play of freshman William Fleder. Fleder, the number three singles player, showed the composure of senior, as he defeated his opponent with the speed and placement of his ground strokes.
Fleder also took advantage of his opportunity to put players away, by not letting his opponent hang around.
"I wanted to get my college career off on a good footing and I did that," Fleder said. "The key to this match was my high first serve percentage and my ability to keep up with my opponent's ground strokes."
"He stepped it up today. He played the way that you need to if you want to win matches this league," Watson said.
