MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – The #3 Tufts University men's tennis team defeated the #6 Williams College Ephs in the NESCAC Championship Semifinals by a score of 5-3 on Saturday morning to advance to the NESCAC Championship Match. The NESCAC Tournament is being hosted by Wesleyan University.
The Jumbos (17-1, 9-1 NESCAC) finished 2-1 in doubles play, with all three matches ending with a score of 8-5. The team of Josh Belandres and Rishabh Sharda fell to Williams' (13-3, 9-1 NESCAC) Matt Kandel and Chase Cohen in the #1 match. Tufts won in both the second and third doubles spots as Isaac Gorelik and Paris Pentousis defeated Karan Amin and Shawn Berdia, while the duo of Derin Acaroglu and Niko Hereford picked up the win over Jack Truwit and Peter Frelinghuysen.
The three singles victories that Tufts needed came in the fourth, fifth and sixth spots. Pentousis won big 6-0, 6-2 against Berdia in the #4 match to clinch for the Jumbos. Derin Acaroglu earned a hard-fought 6-0, 4-6, 7-5 victory over Michael Medvedev in fifth singles. Belandres defeated Truwit in the #6 singles match 6-1, 6-2.
Cohen got the win for Williams over Gorelik in the #1 singles match 7-6, 6-2 and the other Williams singles victory came in the #3 match where Amin defeated Vuk Vuksanovic 6-3, 6-2.
The 5-3 victory for Tufts marks their 16th consecutive win. Their last loss came on Sunday, March 13 against this very Williams team they defeated to earn a spot in the conference championship.
The Jumbos will face off against #4 Middlebury College in the NESCAC Championship at 9 am on Sunday, May 8.
Written by Tim O'Brien, Athletic Communications Intern
