When the men's tennis team was handed its schedule, the players circled two games in particular. While they might not admit it, the early season matches against Middlebury and Williams were to be early season barometers of the Jumbos' talent level - a chance to show they could play with the big boys.
That thought will need to remain on hold, as Middlebury made quick work of the Jumbos, dropping only a single set en route to a 7-0 victory. The score marked a reversal of the Jumbos' previous match, in which they sent Connecticut College to an early exit by the same lopsided score. Tufts' match against Williams was postponed due to weather-related issues.
Senior co-captain and top-ranked Jumbo Rifat Perahya was the lone Jumbo not to be defeated in straight sets. Perahya won the first set 4-6 and then lost the next two 6-0 and 6-4.
After Perahya won the opening set, giving the Jumbos a little excitement, it was all downhill from there. Tufts struggled to gain any momentum against the No. 1-ranked opponent.
The team remained upbeat despite the uneven score.
"It is a great experience to play the best Div. III team in the nation," junior Paul Roberts said. "Now we have seen the best and we can go from there."
In the match, the Jumbos decided to rest two of their starting singles players. Senior Adam Yates and Junior Ben Alexander sat out the match to gear up for Williams the next day, which was postponed due to weather conditions.
"In hindsight it was a failed strategy," Roberts said. "In essence we were kind of conceding the match because we knew the next match against Williams was huge, especially when it comes to qualifying for nationals."
According to Roberts, coach Watson expressed little disappointment after the match.
"He was happy that we gave it our best shot and did not back down," Roberts said. "We did exactly what he asked us to do, which was to be aggressive. Sometimes there is a reason a team is number one."
While the Jumbo players were impressed with the skills of Middlebury, they claim that the team's sportsmanship left much to be desired.
"They were constantly bad sports and were constantly belittling our players," said sophomore Geoff Loh, who played second doubles with classmate Sean McCooey. "They kept saying we have the worst reputation in the NESCAC."
Roberts expressed a more sympathetic attitude.
"They have the right to be cocky," he said. "They are, after all, the number one team in the nation."
The Jumbos will waste little time putting this match behind them, as they play Trinity today, another top 20 team. Tufts fell to 2-3 after its loss to Middlebury and knows that Trinity will be another tough challenge.
One key for the Jumbos will be to improve their first-serve percentage. In NESCAC, aggressiveness is favored over conservative play, and the Jumbos know that missing serves will give their opponent the first opportunity to be aggressive.
"I missed some serves and that is something I am going to have to improve if we want to defeat tough competition like Williams and Trinity," Loh said. "This allowed them to make some tough returns on us that we were unable to handle."
Middlebury was able to control the match and break the Jumbos' serves. The Panthers could then hit the ball deep to the baseline, rush the net, and put Tufts players on the defensive.
Like a top team, Middlebury was also able to win the big points. Many individual games had scores similar to 30-40 or 40-40 before Middlebury came up with a big shot to capture an individual game.
"They were just able to close out the big points," freshman William Fleder said. "They came through in key situations which is the mark of a good team."
Fleder, the Jumbos' third singles player, was playing against a top-level team for the first time in his collegiate career and left the match impressed with the level of competition.
"I thought I didn't play well at all." Fleder said. "But then I realized [that] this was my first time playing against such competition and this match will serve as a major learning tool in the future."
Asked if there was any residual frustration after such a crushing loss, Roberts was to able to put the match into some perspective.
"This match was like a spring-training game. It was nice to get a look at them, but our main goal right now is to make the playoffs," Roberts said. "If we make the playoffs we will get another shot at these guys."
