For the men's tennis team, the majority of spring break was spent in Puerto Rico, practicing and enjoying the sun. After a 6−3 victory over Div. II opponent Puerto Rico−Mayguez, Tufts ended its spring break back in Medford, where sunny triumph gave way to a disappointing defeat at the hands of Vassar and then an unfinished match against Stevens Institute of Technology that was cut short due to rain.
The Jumbos trailed Stevens 2−1 in doubles play before bad weather set in, forcing the match to be postponed. And against Vassar College, the No. 24−ranked team in the nation, the host Jumbos were dominated by a final margin of 8−1.
Tufts' loss to Vassar on March 27 marked the team's first loss to the Brewers in program history. The Jumbos had many close singles matches in the contest, with two going to three sets and two others seeing first−set tiebreakers. At the No. 5 singles spot, senior tri−captain Andrew Rosen put up a strong fight, eventually losing 4−6, 6−3, 10−8.
In the No. 1 spot, sophomore Kai Victoria won the first set 7−6 (4), before giving up the next two sets to Vassar senior captain Mike Mattelson 6−1, 6−4. The Jumbos' No. 4 player on the ladder, junior Tony Carrucci, also lost a close three setter 6−0, 3−6, 6−2.
The lone victory for the Jumbos came from freshman Ben Barad, who in the No. 6 singles position defeated Vassar senior Jeremy Arthur 7−6 (6) in the first set before cruising through the second set to win 6−2.
"Vassar was a good team, and they had a few good wins and a bunch of really good players, and we knew coming in that it would be a tough match," senior tri−captain Daniel Landers said.
"We had beaten them the last two years," he continued. "It was a disappointing way to start the season, because the match would have gotten us ranked. We fought with them in every match, but on that given day, things didn't go our way."
In the doubles matches, freshman Andrew Lutz was paired with Victoria for the first time, and together they pulled out a close 9−8 victory in the No. 1 slot. In No. 2 doubles play, tri−captains junior Paul Kohnstamm and senior Daniel Landers returned to action after sitting out the fall season with injuries.
While the Kohnstamm and Landers duo fell behind 5−2 early, they kept their composure and, with aggressive play and well−placed volleying, turned the match around, winning 8−5.
In singles play, freshmen Ben Barad and Mark Westerfield both had big wins at the No. 5 and 6 single spots respectively, while Lutz at the No. 4 singles spot pulled out a close second set 6−4 after winning the first set easily.
The Jumbos' next match will be their home opener against NESCAC rival Middlebury Friday, followed by a double−header on Saturday versus Bowdoin and Brandeis. The matchup with the nationally No. 4−ranked Panthers on Friday poses a tough test for the Jumbos. The weekend as a whole, with three contests in two days, presents a grueling physical challenge.
"Given the fact that we have two matches on Saturday, I don't know that we are even going to send out our full first team out there, because we are going to have to mix and match players so we can prepare for all three matches," Landers said.
"Hopefully, at the end of the weekend we can have a few wins, beating Brandeis and one of the other two teams," he added.
