Win Streak Reaches 17 For Men's Tennis In Senior Day Sunday Sweep

SOMERVILLE, MA (April 16, 2023) -- The Tufts University men's tennis team extended their win streak to 17 to start the 2023 campaign, as the Jumbos defeated Connecticut College Sunday morning 8-1 for Senior Day before traveling over the No. 23 Babson College and knocking off the Beavers 8-1.

The Jumbos are the last remaining undefeated team in NCAA Division III in dual matches, as Tufts was ranked No. 4 in the most recent Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings. 

Match 1: No. 4 Tufts 8, Connecticut College 1
The Jumbos men's tennis team celebrated Senior Day prior to the Sunday contest with Connecticut College, and then followed with a strong performance against the Camels.

Seniors Rishabh Sharda and Josh Belandres bested Aaron Fleischman and Jules Taylor-Kerman 8-6, and Jack Moldenhauer and Mauricio Gutierrez were edged in an 8-6 win at No. 2 doubles against Walker Mulligan and James Serhart III. Matthew Cashin and Oliver Obeid also cruised to an 8-3 victory to help earn a 2-1 lead in doubles for the Jumbos. 

Lachie Macintosh played up at No. 1 singles and had no issues in a 6-2, 6-4 win over Fleischman, picking up his first career win at No. 1 singles. Aarush Ganji rolled past Taylor-Kerman at No. 2 singles 6-1, 6-2, while Andrej Djokic topped Walker Mulligan 6-1, 6-1 at No. 4. 

Junior Corey Marley rolled in his No. 3 singles match 6-2, 6-3, and Obeid was a double winner in the match with a 6-2, 6-1 win at No. 5 over Gavin Anderson. Cashin also potted a pair of victories on the day after he recorded a 6-2, 6-2 win at No. 6 singles. 

Match 2: No. 4 Tufts 8, No. 23 Babson 1
The Jumbos followed their home win in the morning by driving the short trip to Babson to take on the No. 23 Beavers, a squad that was riding a 14-match winning straight and hadn't lost to a Division III team in 2023. 

Tufts would control the action from the start, as Sharda and Belandres posted a solid 8-4 win at No. 2 doubles to put the first point on the board for the Jumbos. Vuk Vuksanovic and Derin Acaroglu also earned a win with an 8-4 score line, and first-year Alex Ganchev and Moldenhauer posted their 12th win together this spring with an 8-6 win at No. 3 doubles. 

Heading into singles with a 3-0 lead, Tufts needed to pick up just two individual contests to clinch the match but the Jumbos also controlled singles. Sharda was a straight-set victor at No. 2 singles, posting a 6-2, 6-4 win over Luis Utrilla. Sharda is now 9-5 on the spring, while going 2-0 at the No. 2 spot. 

Babson got its only win at No. 1 singles to make the score 4-1, as Brooks Green outlasted Vuksanovic 6-3, 6-4. The clinching point came at No. 3 singles from Ganchev, as he tallied his second win of the match with a 6-1, 7-6 straight set victory. The first-year is now 10-2 on the season. 

Belandres dropped his first set, but rallied to earn a 0-6, 6-4, 6-3 win at No. 6 to win his third straight and ninth in his last 10. Belandres' win moved the score to 6-1 in favor of Tufts, and a 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 win at No. 4 singles helped Acaroglu stay undefeated in singles as he upped his record to 12-0. 

The final win of the day came at No. 5 singles, as Javier Gonzalez bested Kian Yazdi 6-0, 6-2. Gonzalez is now 6-1 at No. 5 this spring. 

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The Jumbos (17-0) will take on No. 18 Wesleyan University Saturday, April 22 at 2 p.m. on the South Courts in Somerville, MA.