MEDFORD, MA (May 2, 2024) -- The Tufts University men's tennis team, newly ranked No. 9 in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Division III Poll, will travel to Middletown, CT Friday to start action in the 2024 New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Tournament. The Jumbos will take on No. 6 seed Wesleyan University at 9 a.m. on the campus of Wesleyan, with the winner traveling to Amherst College Saturday and Sunday for the semifinals and finals.
Game Details
NESCAC Tournament Website
Opponent: vs. Wesleyan University (6-10, 5-5 NESCAC)
Date: Friday, May 3, 2024
Time: 9:00 a.m.
Location: Middletown, CT - John Wood Memorial Outdoor Courts
Weather: Sunny, High 60s, Chance of Rain: 5%, Wind: SSE 5-10 MPH
Live Coverage:
LIVE STATS -
LIVE VIDEO
Against Wesleyan
The Jumbos are 32-16 all-time against Cardinals, winning the last four matches including a 9-0 win back on April 6 in Middletown. Tufts and Wesleyan have played each other twice in the last 10 years, with each team winning once. Tufts held a long-time edge in the series, winning 26 straight from 1977 to 2012.
A Look At The Jumbos (14-5, 8-2 NESCAC)
Tufts comes into the NESCAC Tournament as the No. 3 seed, after dropping matches to both Middlebury College and Williams College to start the conference slate. Since then, Tufts has won all eight NESCAC tilts and has won 11 straight Division III matches dating back to a 7-2 win over Johns Hopkins on March 21. During that stretch, Tufts has won all nine matches in five matches while the Jumbos have lost only nine matches individually since March 21.
The Jumbos have been strong in singles' action this season, winning 63.6 percent of matches led by the 15-6 record by first-year
Garv Bahl. Bahl has played in five of the six singles' positions, but is 4-1 at No. 5 and 5-2 at No. 6. Bahl has also won eight straight matches in singles. Sophomore
Javier Gonzalez has also won seven straight, posting 15 wins while going 12-4 at No. 2 singles.
Andrej Djokic is 14-4 on the season, winning 10 straight, while
Derin Acaroglu has picked up six straight victories while going 7-0 in NESCAC play this season.
Lachie Macintosh is 4-1 in NESCAC play and 9-3 in dual matches, and
Vuk Vuksanovic has won eight of his last nine while posting a 7-2 mark in conference play and an 12-5 overall record.
In doubles, the pairing of
Sacha Maes and
Corey Marley have been sensational going 11-1 on the season including a 6-1 record in league action.
Alex Ganchev and Vuksanovic are 9-4 together at the No. 1 position, going 5-2 in NESCAC play, and Acaroglu and Macintosh are 5-1 in doubles action at the No. 2 position. Tufts has been dominant in doubles, winning 70.7 percent of pairs action.
Tufts is in search of its fourth all-time NESCAC championship, winning titles in 1984, 1986 and 1989.
A Look At The Rest of the Field
Tufts takes on Wesleyan University on Friday afternoon, as the Cardinals have gone 6-10 on the season. Wesleyan's top player, JT Bilski, has gone 3-7 in NESCAC action at the No. 1 spot, while Ben Mitchell is 13-8 on the year including a strong 7-3 mark in league play. The doubles' duo of Bilski and Mitchell is 10-5 at No. 1 doubles this year.
Middlebury is the top seed in the NESCAC and is 16-3 on the season, going 9-1 in the NESCAC falling to Williams 5-4 back on March 30. Neel Epstein leads the Panthers with a 17-3 mark this season in singles, going 9-0 in league action, while Noah Laber is the Panther's No. 1 and has gone 6-6 this season. Julian Wu has also posted a whopping 23-5 mark in singles. Middlebury also has a strong 74.5 winning clip in doubles, led by Hugh Hentschel and Thehan Wijemanne and their 14-3 record.
Williams is the No. 2 seed and is coming off a loss to No. 6 Bowdoin, 6-3, though the Ephs are 8-2 in the league. Williams has just seven players, but all seven have been contributors including Matt Kandal, who was an NCAA Singles' finalist last year. Amherst will be the No. 4 seed and battle No. 5 seed Bowdoin, while Colby and Trinity round out the top eight in the NESCAC Tournament.
Williams has won a league-high 16 all-time titles including their latest in 2021, while Middlebury has picked up 11 and three of the last four.
Weekend Schedule
Friday, May 3
No. 8 Trinity vs. No. 1 Middlebury - 9 a.m. - at Amherst
lNo. 5 Bowdoin vs. No. 4 Amherst - 9 a.m. - at Amherst
No. 7 Colby vs. No. 2 Williams - 9 a.m. - at Wesleyan
No. 6 Wesleyan vs. No. 3 Tufts - 9 a.m. - at Wesleyan
Saturday, May 4 at Amherst College
SemifinalWinner 3/6 vs. Winner 2/7 - 9 a.m.
SemifinalWinner 4/5 vs. Winner 1/8 - 9 a.m.
Sunday, May 5 at Amherst College
Championship Match - 9 a.m.
--JUMBOS--
