The men's squash team came up empty-handed at the College Squash Association (CSA) Team Tournament this weekend, losing all three of its matches to finish 11-12 on the season.
The No. 16 Jumbos played over three consecutive days, first being flattened by No. 9 Cornell, 9-0, then falling in an 8-1 loss No. 13 Bates and a 7-2 loss to No. 15 Navy.
"The results of this weekend do not do our team justice," senior co-captain Spencer Maxwell said. "One needs to be aware of the historical context of our team and squash in general to appreciate this outstanding season we have had, and what this means for the future of our program."
Cornell, the top seed in the second division bracket, completely dominated Tufts in Friday's first-round match. The Jumbos failed to pick up a single game, and Cornell tallied 243 points to Tufts' 51.
Securing the bottom seed in the tournament's second division was a novel and notable accomplishment for Tufts squash. Within this division, teams nationally ranked ninth through sixteenth compete within a bracket of eight teams to determine the champion for that division.
"Our victory was getting the ranking of [No.] 16 and a berth in the Hoehn division, which hasn't happened for Tufts squash in 17 years," Keidel said. "We just wanted to get some experience playing with better teams, as we will need it next year."
Cornell has traditionally fielded a very solid team, usually playing in the first division in the CSA end-of-season tourney.
"We haven't played Cornell once in my four years here, and I'm guessing that trend has been in effect for [longer] than that," senior Thomas Keidel said. "Cornell is normally a Div. I team, however it suffered a couple upsets that dropped their team into Div. II, effectively the Hoehn division. They were by far the best in that division."
On Saturday, the Jumbos took on Bates in the loser's bracket, but fell short once again. Sophomore Nelson Schubart secured Tufts' only victory in the contest, overcoming Bates freshman Marc Taggart (7-9, 9-5, 10-8, 9-1).
The bottom five seeds for the Jumbos all played hard-fought matches going to either four or five sets. Keidel lost to senior Peter Goldsborough (9-2, 9-6, 4-9, 9-4) at No. 5, while senior Dan Karlin was unable to complete his five-game match against Bates senior Dmitri Russell due to an ankle injury, retiring with the score 9-2, 3-9, 9-4, 9-10, 5-7, at the No. 6 slot.
Rounding out the bottom of the lineup, Tufts junior David Linz blew a two-game lead over senior Guillermo Moronta at No. 9, allowing Moronta to climb back to win by a score of 0-9, 0-9, 9-7, 10-8, 9-3.
Tufts lost to Bates earlier this month by an identical 8-1 margin, but Keidel saw an improvement in the sequel.
"We played a lot better against Bates this time around, although the 8-1 score line wouldn't indicate that," Keidel said. "We had two matches go to five games, and [No. 8] Chris Devereux's and mine went to four."
In Sunday's final round, the Jumbos fell to Navy in a highly competitive contest overshadowed by the 7-2 score. Sophomore Jake Gross, playing at No. 1, outlasted Navy sophomore Tucker George 9-2, 9-4, before George retired after the second game. Schubart, capping an individually successful weekend, won another match for the Jumbos at No. 6 (9-3, 9-3, 6-9, 9-5).
Like the Bates matchup the day before, this contest featured many close bouts that the Jumbos were unable to finish. At No. 4, Tufts sophomore Kris Leetavorn started off strong against Midshipmen freshman Alastair Smith but was unable to secure the win, falling 8-10, 4-9, 9-1, 9-0, 9-7.
Playing from No. 7, Deveraux managed to battle back from two sets down against Navy senior Patrick Kruse, but the comeback was incomplete, as he lost 9-5, 9-6, 7-9, 7-9, 9-2. Linz also lost in five sets to his opponent at the No. 8 position.
Tufts also lost to Navy in January by a narrower 5-4 margin.
"We had a lead in a couple of matches, but Navy, as [it] did last time, was able to summon up physical and mental reserves that we did not have," Keidel said. "This is an area in which we need to improve."
With team match play over for the season, Tufts' 11-12 record is comparable to previous seasons, including last year's 9-10. What set this season apart was the caliber of competition on the Jumbos' docket.
"We consistently played Div. I and Div. II teams, squaring off multiple times against Amherst, Navy, Bates, and Colby, which would not have happened in seasons past," Keidel said.
According to Maxwell, the jump in competition level has earned the Jumbos some attention throughout the squash circuit.
"Other schools are beginning to respect our program," Maxwell said. "A few years ago, scaring the likes of Navy and Bowdoin was unfathomable. Now these teams have to take us seriously, and teams that we used to be close with, such as Wesleyan and Connecticut College, are now clearly at a level far below us. This is the best squash team Tufts has seen since the late 1980s."
