After a four-match winning streak that lasted from March 15 to April 1, the men's tennis team has dropped three in a row to NESCAC rivals to fall to 6-5 overall and 2-4 in the conference. This weekend, the Jumbos fell to a pair of Maine powerhouses, dropping 7-2 matches to both Bates and Bowdoin.
On Sunday, Tufts may have played some of its best tennis of the season on the Gantcher indoor courts but fell to a red hot Polar Bear team which extended its winning streak to four. The match was incredibly close; four of the six singles matches went to three sets, and all four included some form of tiebreaker.
"We played some of our better tennis of the year and the match was a lot closer than the score was," senior captain Will Fleder said. "We really feel like we could have pulled it out. Two years ago it was the opposite - we took some close matches and beat them 5-2. But that's just the nature of the business."
In doubles the Jumbos came close to jumping out to a 2-1 lead. Sophomores Daniel Landers and Jon Trott took third doubles by a score of 8-4 and freshmen Tony Carucci and Jake Fountain lost at first doubles by a score of 8-3. The doubles edge came down to Fleder and freshman Paul Kohnstamm, who were out-muscled by sophomore Tyler Anderson and junior Alex White of Bowdoin, 9-7.
"They were on serve the whole time, and then Paul was broken in the last game," Landers said. "He has been battling shoulder injuries so his serve is not at full strength, but he was hitting great volleys and putting away a lot of points. They gave a good fight against a highly ranked doubles team."
In singles, which has been the Jumbos' forté all year, almost every match was close. Midway through the first three singles matches, it looked as though Tufts might find itself a point from victory with three matches to go.
"When Will and [sophomore Andrew Rosen] both split sets and Jake looked on the verge of winning in straight sets, I thought we were in very good position," coach Doug Eng said. "We had the chance to be up 4-2."
In the end, Fleder, Rosen and Carucci all fell in three sets. At first singles, Fleder took a second set tiebreak before falling in the third set to Bowdoin senior Garett Gates.
"I thought I played really well," Fleder said. "Garett is a great tennis player and our matches are always really close, but [Sunday] he was playing the best that I have seen from him."
Fleder played a total of 80 games in his four matches this weekend, and he admits that it may have taken a toll on him in his final set.
"When you play two matches in a row, fatigue is always an issue," he said. "In the third set my shoulder felt like lead and that affected my serving. I know a lot of guys were tired, but we knew the back-to-back matches were coming and we need to deal with that."
The lone singles win on the day came from sophomore Brian Wilner, who took the No. 5 match on a third set super-tiebreak.
The sixth singles match was cut short because Bowdoin had already clinched the win.
"I definitely feel that the match today was winnable," Landers said. "We had three singles losses go into a third set and had a doubles match that was very close. If we had been able to take two of those matches, it would have been a different story."
On Saturday Tufts went on the road to Maine to face Bates, ranked 28th nationally. Though the 7-2 match score mirrored that of Sunday's match, this loss was much more decisive.
"Going up and down the matches, we played very well, but sometimes you just fall short," Eng said. "I just thought Bates played extremely well. I wouldn't be surprised if they said it was their best match of their year."
After an 8-0 Bates victory at first doubles, Tufts took second doubles by a close score of 8-6 before falling 8-6 in third doubles.
"Bates has a very good [Nos.] 1 and 2 and very solid doubles," Landers said. "We just weren't able to deal with that."
Indeed, Bates' strength was at the top of their ladders as No. 1 Fleder and No. 2 Fountain were both beaten in straight sets, which had not happened yet this season. Tufts' only win came from Trott at sixth singles, and Nos. 1 through 5 all fell in straight sets.
Despite the two losses, Fleder was encouraged by the team's marked improvement in doubles play.
"We are really happy that our doubles is actually starting to play well," Fleder said. "Losing three to Colby and Brandeis was unacceptable. We focused on being a little more aggressive. We went from taking zero doubles matches against mediocre teams to almost taking two against strong teams."
With only four matches
left before the NESCAC Championships, the Jumbos will need to get their record back on track, and their first chance comes on Saturday with a non-league tilt against Vassar.
"If we keep playing singles and doubles on the same level that we did this weekend we should not have any trouble with Vassar," Fleder said.
