After posting a 2-0 record in dual matches last fall, the men's tennis team enters the spring season anxious to improve on a dismal finish to the 2005-06 campaign.
With an upset loss to Bates at the end of the regular season, the Jumbos narrowly missed the NESCAC tournament for the first time since its inception in 2000. The squad hopes to start this spring's conference schedule on the right foot when it takes on NESCAC foe Colby tomorrow in Waterville, Maine.
"Starting off the season with a NESCAC match is a big deal for us, especially against Colby, a team who we are evenly matched with, so it should set the tone for the season," senior tri-captain Sean McCooey said. "Every match in the NESCAC is important because as we found out last year, missing a few matches can hurt your chances at making the tournament."
The Mules narrowly edged the Jumbos on April 14 last year, giving Tufts the added incentive of avenging that loss while looking to extend their record to 3-0.
"Colby's a big match for us because we lost to them last year 4-3, so we're looking to come back from that," senior tri-captain Matt Gallin said. "We're going into this match pretty pumped up."
The winter offseason provided the team with a chance to train and participate in intra-squad matches and tiebreakers in order to maintain the Jumbos' keen match-play.
"We worked really hard in the offseason to get in shape," Gallin said. "Since we haven't had any matches in awhile, the first couple back you're always a little nervous because you haven't played. But we've been playing matches in practice so we're looking to get started quickly again, especially for the big match against Colby."
Winter also offered the chance for Gallin and McCooey to fully recover from injuries that kept them from competing in the fall lineup. Junior Will Fleder also returned from studying abroad in the fall, bringing the squad's ladder back to full strength.
"We were pretty crippled [in the fall] because Will was abroad and Sean, our second singles player, was injured and I had a hand injury also," Gallin said. "But now coming into the spring we're all back and have been healthy for a while, so hopefully we can stay that way."
"Three returning players with experience is going to be a big thing for this season," McCooey said. "We have a few young guys in our lineup who are going to be looking to our older guys, especially in the tighter matches."
The absences of McCooey, Gallin and Fleder from the fall lineup provided the chance for younger players, including freshmen Daniel Landers, Andrew Rosen, Jon Trott and Bryan Wilner, to secure playing time on the court and pick up valuable experience early in their college tennis careers. And while the team went a perfect 2-0 in duals this fall, the competition was not as tough as the opponents the team will face this spring.
"It definitely helps especially with Will, Matt and I being out of the lineup, and a lot of the younger guys got some experience in the fall matches," McCooey said. "But at the same time we didn't have any NESCAC matches, so hopefully we can take lessons from the fall and be ready for the spring."
The team also placed an added emphasis on doubles play during the offseason. Prior to last fall, only one point would be awarded to the team that won two of the three doubles matches played during a dual match, while all singles matches were valued at one point each. Starting this fall and continuing through this spring, all doubles and singles match victories will net one point toward the school's final score.
"We're putting a little extra effort into our doubles to make the most of those three points," McCooey said. "In the past we tried to win two of the three and sacrifice the third, but this year they are all equally important. We've put a strong focus on doubles, working on them two or three times a week."
"Since last year, we've needed to add some talent in doubles, which we've done," Gallin said. "[Senior] Geoff Loh has come back and we added freshman John Trott, so our doubles are much better."
The Jumbos also look to put forward a strong singles lineup, supplemented by the doubles teams, and make full use of the extensive experience that this team possesses.
"The depth in our singles lineup is going to be a strength for us, and even though only the top six players play, our entire lineup is made up of solid players," McCooey said. "We should have a pretty good lineup at [No. 1] through [No. 6] singles, and we've done a lot of doubles work in the offseason, mixing and matching to find our final players."
"It's a very senior-led team," Gallin said. "We've got five seniors, which is about half the team. We have a lot of experience and we're looking forward to using that to our advantage."
