WILLIAMSTOWN, MA (April 28, 2023) -- The No. 2 Tufts University men's tennis team controlled singles play following a 2-1 lead after doubles to advance to the 2023 New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Tournament semifinals with a 5-1 victory over No. 8 seed Wesleyan University Friday afternoon. The top-seeded Jumbos will now take on winner of No. 4 seed Middlebury College and No. 5 Colby College Saturday at 1 p.m. at Williams College's Hunt Family Tennis Center.
Tufts (20-0) stayed undefeated with the victory on Friday, but the Cardinals (7-10) made the Jumbos work in the doubles' action.
Jack Moldenhauer and
Alex Ganchev started the day with an 8-5 victory at No. 3 doubles. The Tufts duo led 2-0, but Wesleyan's pair of Tai MacDonald and Max Lustgarten battled back to tie the match at two games apiece. Tufts would pick up another break and led the rest of the way.
The lead doubled to 2-0 thanks to an 8-6 win at the No. 1 doubles position, as the Region I's top doubles pair of
Vuk Vuksanovic and
Derin Acaroglu bested Ben Mitchell and JT Bilski 8-4. Tufts' pair moved to 13-4 on the season at the No. 1 position for the Jumbos. The final doubles match Friday was taken by Wesleyan's Harry Collomb and Chase Kasday, as they earned an 8-7 win over
Josh Belandres and
Rishabh Sharda. It was Belandres and Sharda's first loss in doubles since April 1, and just their third defeat of the season.
The Jumbos would take control in the singles portion of the match, as first-year
Javier Gonzalez posted his fourth straight win to move to 11-4 on the season with a quick 6-3, 6-2 win over Kasday at No. 5 to make the score 3-1 for Tufts. The top-seeded Jumbos got another win at No. 1, as Sharda won 6-1, 6-1 to improve to 11-5 on the campaign with his sixth consecutive victory.
Ganchev helped clinch the team win with a straight set victory at No. 3 singles, as he earned his 12th win of the season and eighth in his last 10 with a 6-2, 6-3 victory. The other matches were left unfinished with the clinching of the match, but Tufts was leading at No. 2 and No. 4 before the stoppage.
Tufts is looking for its first NESCAC title since 1989 and its fourth overall this weekend, as the Jumbos are in their 14th appearance in the Tournament. Tufts has made the finals in each of the last two seasons.
--JUMBOS--
