Two doubles and four singles teams represented Tufts at the ITA Regional Championships at Williams last weekend, where the talent of the NESCAC was on display. While a few Jumbos earned first−round wins, players from powerhouse programs such as Williams and Middlebury kept Tufts from tasting the third round.
Senior tri−captain Sam Laber helped earn both of Tufts' victories. He defeated Kyle Carmona of Mitchell College in singles after Carmona retired at 5−5 in the final set, and in doubles he and junior Ben Barad beat Bowdoin's Nicholas Fenichell and Kent Winingham, 8−5. Laber and Barad were unable to handle the No. 1 seed from Middlebury in the second round where they lost 8−3. In singles, Laber was knocked out of the round of 32 by Williams' Trey Meyer, 6−3, 6−1.
Although Barad lost his singles match 6−3, 6−4 to Williams' Bryan Chow, he had a solid showing at ITAs.
"Out of all the tennis I saw from our side, [Barad] was the one who impressed me the most by far," senior tri−captain Kai Victoria said.
After taking the first set, junior Andrew Lutz lost in a tiebreaker to Amherst's Chris Dale, who went on to reach the semifinals, while sophomore Austin Blau fell in straight sets to MIT's Eugene Oh. Blau played in place of Victoria, who only played doubles due to a minor injury.
Victoria and Lutz teamed up in doubles and gave Williams' eventual runners−up Felix Sun and Matt Micheli a run for their money. They battled until the score was tied at eight games apiece, but came up short in the tiebreak.
While the ITAs will affect preseason singles and doubles rankings for the spring, the tournament was mostly significant for the Jumbos to see where they stand. The NESCAC is the strongest conference in Div. III men's tennis, boasting six schools in the top 25 — No. 1 Middlebury, No. 4 Amherst, No. 10 Williams, No. 14 Bowdoin, No. 15 Trinity and No. 24 Bates — which means the Jumbos have an uphill battle.
Although only five Tufts players competed at ITAs, first−year coach Jaime Kenney decided that the whole team should make the trip. It was a change from years past, intended to give the entire squad a chance to see what's in store this spring.
"The takeaway for us was we still have a lot of work to do," Victoria said. "We went in knowing the competition was good, but I think it's gotten even better lately. These schools are pulling in kids who would otherwise be going to Div. I schools, and the competition has risen to a very high level."
Nonetheless, the Jumbos don't feel they are so far behind, and they know they can compete against some of the best the NESCAC has to offer.
"Our players were hanging with these guys in all their matches," Victoria said, "and I think it's just going to take a little more work and that much more effort to put us on that next level where we can actually start beating these people."
Senior tri−captain Morrie Bossen also feels that the divide between Tufts and the top is not huge.
"I guess what sets Amherst, Williams and Middlebury apart is that they all hit very solid balls consistently," he said. "They don't take points off, and they're very talented. But I don't think we should consider them on a way different level."
Still, it is difficult to prepare to beat NESCAC competition in the spring when the Jumbos see very little of it in the fall. They were not at the Middlebury Invitational on September 17−18, which included Middlebury, Bates and Trinity, although Tufts will send players to the Harvard Halloween Invitational next month. Amherst, Brown, Dartmouth and MIT appeared at that event last year.
"That was something we realized when we got to ITAs — we weren't as prepared as these elite teams," Victoria said. "These teams have been playing each other throughout the fall. While they were playing amongst themselves, we were playing Salve Regina in Rhode Island. We're kind of starting off at a disadvantage."
Starting next fall, Kenney will wipe Salve Regina and Roger Williams — two teams Tufts dominated on Sept. 18 — off the schedule, with hopes of taking on higher−level squads.
"We haven't played a team yet this season that has really required us to have our full squad, so I don't know if you're going to see so much tangible improvement from this fall to the spring season," Bossen said.
Still, Bossen noted that there will be improvement with the return of junior Mark Westerfield, who is abroad, and sophomore Pat Monaghan, who is out with a back injury.
Next up for Tufts is an Oct. 7 match at Babson, a school against which Tufts has gone 25−2 over the past four years.
