SOMERVILLE, MA (May 6, 2023) -- The No. 2 Tufts University men's tennis team opened its journey in the NCAA Men's Tennis Championships Saturday, knocking off Baruch College 5-0 to advance to the NCAA Regional Final Sunday against No. 37 MIT. The Engineers knocked off No. 21 Swarthmore College in the afternoon match, 5-4.
"We did what we needed to do today, the guys came out with good energy we got the job done, 5-0," said head coach
Karl Gregor. "Competing the day before is always helpful, so I thought it took a little time to get our feet under us. They were a loud team, good energy, and they definitely made us play so it was a good win."
The Jumbos dominated action in doubles, taking an early 1-0 lead thanks to a victory by
Jack Moldenhauer and
Alex Ganchev with a clean 8-0 scoreline at No. 3 doubles. The match lead would double for the Jumbos at No. 2, as
Josh Belandres and
Rishabh Sharda defeated Jim Bauer and Juan Paredes 8-2. Things were tight at No. 1 doubles as Christopher Tham and Nicholas Santiago battled back from a 7-1 deficit to make things close against Tufts'
Derin Acaroglu and
Vuk Vuksanovic, but in the end the Jumbo duo was able to pick up an 8-6 win.
Tufts got out quickly in singles as well, as Sharda was able to capture all 12 games he played in a 6-0, 6-0 win at No. 1 to make the score 4-0. The clinching point came at No. 4 singles, as
Javier Gonzalez knocked off Santiago 6-1, 6-2 in straight sets to send the Jumbos in the NCAA Third Round Sunday. Acaroglu was leading 6-1, 5-1 when the match was halted, while Vuksanovic was also up a set at No. 2 singles.
The Jumbos will move into the Regional Final for the second straight season, having knocked off North Carolina Wesleyan University last year in the NCAA Third Round to advance to the NCAA Quarterfinals. Tufts made it to the NCAA Semifinals in 2022 before bowing out against the University of Chicago.
First serve for Sunday's match with MIT is slated for 12 p.m. on Tufts's South Courts.
--JUMBOS--
