The men's tennis team couldn't catch a break.
For every great win the Jumbos pulled off, there was a disappointing loss that crippled any chance at accumulating momentum during the 2006 spring season. Tufts battled some of the top teams in the country and finished with a 6-9 record, missing out on the NESCAC tournament for the first time since its inception in 2000.
The team started strong over spring break as it defeated MIT and 25th-ranked Chapman. The Jumbos had not beaten MIT since 2002, and the win infused the Jumbos' season outlook with early optimism.
"We had a great spring trip," coach Doug Eng said. "We worked on mental toughness, better explosiveness, smarter play, and we generally got better in most departments."
These two wins were followed by difficult weeks as the Jumbos lost to their next five opponents, winning only four individual matches over the two weeks. Junior Sean McCooey was the lone Jumbo to notch a point in two matches, as Middlebury, Williams and Trinity blanked the Jumbos in consecutive matches over a span of five days.
"We had so much promise and potential after the first two matches," senior tri-captain Ben Alexander said. "It's so unfortunate that we let up a bit."
The Jumbos faced a tough Bowdoin team in the middle of their season. In the past six years, the Jumbos had taken only one match from the Polar Bears, a tight 4-3 win in 2004. Rebounding from a 7-0 blanking in 2005, the Jumbos stunned Bowdoin with a 5-2 win on Apr. 7, earning their first NESCAC win of the year. This win spurred on another, as the Jumbos also breezed by Wheaton two days later on Voute Courts.
"We rolled through much of the season," Eng said. "We had our highs after big wins over ranked teams. [Against Bowdoin and Middlebury] we were tougher, we believed in ourselves, and we were in better shape."
Sophomore Will Fleder, who finished 7-7 in single matches, was happy with the team's performances despite its less-than-stellar record.
"The season was overall very good," Fleder said. "We had some big wins; I think at one point in the season, everyone stepped up and contributed."
As the season continued, the Jumbos gathered two more wins in their remaining six matches. The two wins were easy 5-2 and 6-1 defeats of non-conference opponents, but the four losses were heartbreakers. The Jumbos lost close ones to Colby and Bates, ultimately coming up short in their quest to qualify for the NESCAC Tournament.
"Losing to Colby was definitely the hardest defeat of my college career; everything rested on that match," Alexander said. "We were a much better team and we all knew we could win, but we just didn't do what we needed to do."
After coming off a two-game winning streak against Babson and Brandeis, the Jumbos looked as if they might upset the Bates Bobcats to clinch a spot in the NECAC and NCAA regional tournaments. The Bobcats, however, swept the doubles and took three of the singles matches to win the dual match and end the Jumbos' quest of a national top-20 finish.
The tri-captains of Alexander and classmates Jon Rubenstein and Paul Roberts are left only to ponder the positive points of their careers.
"Beating four top-25 teams was pretty good and having a top-20 ranking at one point was impressive," Roberts said. "Our team chemistry was great and everyone really got along well. As for the other captains, we all battled each other in practice and [were] fierce competitors but at the same time the best of friends."
