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| Paris Pentousis was one of three Jumbo freshmen to win in singles keeping the team alive. |
MEDFORD – For the second consecutive NESCAC match against a top 10 opponent, the Tufts University men's tennis team went to the last set before losing as the Jumbos were defeated 5-4 by Williams College on Sunday afternoon.
Tufts, ranked 17th nationally, had taken #7 Wesleyan to the final set before losing 5-4 last Sunday. Today, the Jumbos battled back from down 3-0 after doubles to tie the match. However, Williams College freshman Peter Frelinghuysen defeated Jumbo junior Ben Biswas 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 in fifth singles to decide the match for the sixth-ranked Ephs.
Trailing 3-0 into singles, Tufts sophomore Boris Sorkin scored the first Tufts point with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Arturo Jam at #1. The Ephs got one win away when junior Alex Taylor was a 6-3, 6-4 winner over Tufts sophomore Carl-Herman Grant in fourth singles.
The Jumbos then rallied to tie the match with three consecutive singles victories, all by freshmen. Paris Pentousis at #2 (6-4, 6-4), Isaac Gorelik at #3 (7-6 (5), 6-1) and Jack Moldenhauer at #6 (6-2, 6-3) won in straight sets to tie the team score at 4-4.
After Biswas won the first set at #5 singles 7-5 and Frelinghuysen evened the match with a 6-3 win in the second set, the Eph kept a slim lead over Biswas early in the third set before winning the final two games to give the visitors the victory.
The Ephs had won the first doubles match when junior Nathan Niemic had to retire for Tufts. The Williams #2 duo of Kam and Calvin Chung scored an 8-4 victory against Grant and junior Zach Shaff. The third contest went to a tie-break with Noah Reich and Austin Barr defeating sophomore Niko Hereford and junior co-captain Ethan Bershtein of the Jumbos 8-7 (4) for the doubles sweep.
Williams improved to 6-4 overall and 3-0 in NESCAC. The Jumbos dropped to 4-6 and 0-3 in the league.
The Jumbos stay at home to host Trinity College on Wednesday. The Ephs are at Welsleyan next Saturday.
