The men's tennis team fared far better than expected in the spring, posting its first winning record since 2004.
In the end, the Jumbos' r?©sum?©, which included two landmark victories over NESCAC foes Trinity and Bates, was not strong enough to convince the selection committee that the squad deserved a trip to the conference tournament.
The year was by no means a failure, however, as Tufts turned heads, cracking the top 20 in the country for a good part of the season and taking down some challenging opponents along the way.
"We were not the most talented team out there," coach Doug Eng said. "But we held our own by playing scrappy and smart."
Tufts' biggest wins of the year came when they mattered most - against NESCAC foes Trinity and Bates, which it had not beaten in any of the previous three years.
On April 3, the Jumbos faced off against a Bantams team they had not taken to more than one match point since 2003. The dual was played on the indoor courts in Gantcher, and whether Tufts was pushed over the top by the home court advantage or the desire for a big NESCAC win, the end result was clear: a 5-4 victory. Coupled with a victory over Bates just days earlier, the win boosted the team's confidence along with its ranking.
The Jumbos could not carry their momentum down the stretch, however, dropping matches to Bowdoin and Amherst to finish the NESCAC portion of their schedule under .500. Despite the disappointing finish, Tufts was still pleased with its 2007 performance.
"From a performance standpoint, we played about as well as we were expected to play," junior Will Fleder said.
"The last two years we have been in contention up until the last day, which is all you can really ask for," Eng said.
The match that likely cost the team a bid in the NESCAC Tournament was the Jumbos' season-opening loss to Colby, a team Tufts was expected to handle. The 6-3 setback proved a huge disappointment, as Colby received the sixth and final bid to the conference championships.
"In the future, the team needs to take the weeks leading up to the beginning of the season more seriously so that we can start off the season in stride," senior tri-captain Sean McCooey said.
One of the season's difference-makers, doubles play was much improved this season, and thanks to a new Div. III rule, doubles was worth three of the possible nine points in the match, as opposed to one of seven. Even though the majority of the team specializes in singles, Tufts pulled out two of the three doubles points in seven of its 12 matches.
"We were very happy with doubles," Eng said. "We didn't have many doubles players, but we worked hard at it and made it into a non-weakness."
Though the team may not have performed up to the level of the tournament committee, it won significant victories off the court. The Jumbos' chemistry was the best it has been in years.
"This year we had the team with the strongest bond of any I have played with in my four years," McCooey said.
Looking ahead to next season, the Jumbos will have to take the courts without their three respected senior tri-captains - McCooey, Corey Kelley and Matt Gallin. In addition, the team graduates No. 1 doubles player Geoff Loh and No. 5 singles player Craig Kunkes. In the last two years, the team will have graduated eight starters, retaining only one starter from last season's team, junior No. 1 Will Fleder.
As a result, Tufts will have to field four new singles starters and four new doubles starters. The team's younger players will have to step up, as the Jumbos will lose the entire middle of their lineup, retaining only the one spot in Fleder and the six, freshman Andrew Rosen.
Luckily for the Jumbos, the team does have a fresh crop of young players who have developed this season and appear ready to take the reins come next year.
"Everybody is going to have to step up to fill the shoes of our five graduating seniors," Fleder said. "But we have a very mature freshman class, so I don't think we will have a problem adjusting."
The team will have to train some of the younger members of the team to be solid doubles starters, as well as finding players to produce wins in the middle of the singles lineup.
"This year's freshmen need to hold some starting spots, and we are hoping that a couple of the recruits for next year will be very good," Eng said.
