The men's tennis team knew entering the spring portion of the season that its youthful team, dominated by freshmen and sophomores, would have to learn the ropes quickly in order to compete with its elite NESCAC opponents.
But in the end, the stiff in-conference competition proved too much, as the team finished with a 2-6 NESCAC mark, 8-7 overall, and failed to qualify for one of the six conference tourney berths for the third straight season.
"In terms of attaining our goals, we were obviously disappointed," senior captain Will Fleder said. "We didn't make NESCACs, we didn't make Regionals, and we came close, but we didn't really beat any of the teams we wanted to beat this year. But I don't think there was really that negative of a feeling on our team."
A selection committee that weighs the merits of NESCAC wins and losses of each team to certain opponents determines postseason squads. While traditional heavyweights like Williams, Middlebury and Trinity are fixtures at the top during the conference tournament, the remaining three slots are left up for grabs for teams like Bates, Bowdoin, Amherst and Tufts. Losses to the other three teams during the regular season all but sealed the Jumbos' postseason fate.
"Men's tennis is probably one of the most difficult sports at Tufts because the conference is just so strong," coach Doug Eng said. "Four of the teams are capable of being in the Final Four nationally, the fifth one is capable of being top 10, the No. 6 team can beat most Div. I schools, so we're No. 7 or 8, and we're a good Div. III and we'd be in the Top 25 in the country if it wasn't for the NESCAC. Our conference is so tough that nobody sees us."
Despite cruising to victories over conference cellar-dwellers Hamilton and Conn. College, Tufts lost its remaining NESCAC contests by a combined 43-9, including margins of 7-2 to the Bobcats and the Polar Bears and 8-1 to the Lord Jeffs, who all qualified for the postseason this year. In the end, the squad's weak doubles lineup at the beginning of the spring season was likely the deciding factor.
"In terms of doubles, the lineup this year took some time to get going," Fleder said. "It was one of our biggest problems, and if we had our doubles lineup that we used at the end of the year during the beginning of the year, the results certainly would have been different. It's just disappointing for us because we only had one crack at this, and it's especially disappointing for me because I don't get another crack at this, but it is what it is."
"We thought we had the lineup set at the beginning of the spring, but it turns out we really didn't," Eng added. "We kept having to tweak it, and toward the end, during the last two weeks, it was much stronger. We played very well the last couple of weeks."
A pair of 5-4 losses to NESCAC opponent Colby and non-conference rival Brandeis was an unpleasant wake-up call for the Jumbos, since both of those losses saw Tufts swept in all three doubles matches, precipitating a revision in the doubles lineup that appeared more effective and more prone to winning at least one doubles contest.
"It's no coincidence that the last two years we had big wins in our first [spring] matches, and it ended up turning out that we had big seasons," Fleder said. "This year we had two bad losses to start the year and everything was kind of tough after that."
"Even against the top teams in the country, we can get close to splitting our singles; we'll go three sets against some of the top teams in the country at almost every spot except No. 1," Eng said. "But in terms of doubles, we're not winning there, and even against average teams we're barely winning, so that has to be much stronger."
While next season will necessitate much closer attention to doubles, it will also offer a chance for the squad's younger members to come into their own, armed with the experience of this past season. Fleder, who competed atop the singles ladder all season at No. 1, is the only graduating senior, and with only two rising seniors in Drew Frankel and Vinh Tran, the rising sophomores and juniors will have ample time to prepare and prove themselves on court.
"We had a young team this year, which we think bodes well for the future because despite the fact that we're losing the No. 1 singles player, we have five other kids coming back [in the singles ladder], and there are many other kids who can step in and play up," Fleder said. "So the future is looking very good for the team - they should do very well next year. As the freshmen become more experienced, and even the sophomores like Jon [Trott] and Bryan [Wilner] who didn't play last year, it would be their sophomore year in terms of playing.
"I will always look back on my time here positively, and I'm pretty sure all the other kids will look back on this positively, and the team has very good promise for the future," he continued. "We're a very young team, and when you have a young team, it's exciting, because kids really want to play more and they're really excited to have the chance to play and they're just going to develop."
"I think the team is young and there's a lot of growing to do," Eng added. "They really have to step up tough, and I think they know that."
