Happy Tuesday, boys and girls. Another week, another NE season preview. Don’t worry, we’ll have something more fun for you later this week, including a possible Central Takeover where NewCentral will attempt to use every word in Thank U, Next in a season preview. Until then, you’re stuck with boring old NE and his #WallsOfText. Today I’m looking at your current National Champion. No, not Midd, but the Tufts Fightin’ Sorkins (happy belated birthday Boris). Much has been made about Boris’ incredible fall, and rightfully so, even if other bloggers and I did see this coming (scroll to the bottom). However, while having one of the best players in the country certainly helps, you need to get to five to win the match, and that’s where the puzzle begins for the Jumbos. They have an extremely young team, and while it appears some guys have made strides, there are still some big question marks up and down the rest of this lineup. As always, Tufts is deep. In fact, that is what always makes this my least favorite season preview to write. Not because I have anything against Tufts, quite the contrary actually, but year in and year out they have at least 10 guys who are competing for starting spots and I feel like a moron trying to predict a lineup. In the end we are all slaves to the revolving door!
LOCATION: Medford, Massachusetts
COACH: Karl Gregor (5th year as Head Coach)
ASSISTANT COACH: Nick Cary (2nd year as Asst. Coach)
TWITTER HANDLE: @TuftsMensTennis
ITA NATIONAL RANKING: N/A (but #22 at end of 2018 spring)
ITA REGIONAL RANKING: N/A (but #8 at end of 2018 spring)
BLOG POWER RANKING: #18
2017-2018 FINISH: Missing NESCACs…again. Every team has issues, but Tufts’ bubbled over at the end of 2018. With rumors of #loyalty problems and a couple of their most talented players riding the pine at the end of the year, Tufts still beat solid teams in RPI/Skid/Colby to finish their year on a more positive note, after a very disappointing de-facto NESCACs play-in match at Bates.
TWEET-LENGTH REVIEW OF FALL: Please enjoy this Russian elephant
— D3 Northeast (@D3Northeast) October 13, 2018
STOCK WATCH: HOLD. Boris is the guy, but I’m both worried and excited about the rest of the lineup. Until I see somebody who I think will consistently win matches in the middle of the lineup, Tufts is a firm hold, albeit with cautious optimism.
KEY ADDITIONS: Isaac Gorelick (3-star from MA), Jack Moldenhauer (3-star from CO), Akash Verma (3-star from NJ), Lantis Wang (3-star from NY), Paris Pentousis (Greece, with the highest UTR of the group). Overall #23 class in DIII.
KEY DEPARTURES: Rohan Gupte (#1 singles/#1doubles), Zain Ali (#2 singles/#1 doubles), Ben Battle (#4-7 singles), Danny Coran (#4-7 singles), Justin Brogan (glue guy).
BEST CASE SCENARIO: Boris is Boris, but either Bis or N^2 (or both) step up to become a very solid #2 player for the Jumbos as well. The team is solid from top to bottom and GOES UNDEFEATED ON SPRING BREAK. That’s right, close wins over Brandeis and PP are not out of the question here. They fall to Amherst, but get 5-4 wins over Wesleyan and Williams throwing themselves into NESCACs as the No. 4 seed with a NESCAC QF rematch where a Tufts win would…GET THEM INTO NCAAS
WORST CASE SCENARIO: Polarizing here, but Tufts not only loses big to PP and Deis on their spring break, but also loses close matches to Caltech and/or Sewanee and Redlands. The Jumbos get smoked by the higher ranked teams in the conference, and lose a gutting 5-4 home match to Bates during the final week of the regular season to keep them out of NESCACs for yet ANOTHER year.
BOLD PREDICTION: Tufts plays at least 10 matches that end up 6-3 either way. We’ll get to this in the schedule section, but: Brandeis, Caltech, Sewanee, Denison, PP, GFU, Redlands, Wesleyan, Williams, MIT, Colby, and Bates are all teams that fall either within 10 power ranking spots above Tufts, or the 15 power rankings spots below Tufts. Tufts is talented, but most of that talent is young, so I think we’ll see some volatility, leading to what is hopefully a lot of very fun matches.
NOT-SO-BOLD PREDICTION: Tufts makes NESCACs this year. No duh, they’re the 6th highest ranked NESCAC team in our Power Rankings, but that has been the case for the past couple years now and yet the Jumbos have missed the postseason in each of the past two seasons. This basically boils down to the fact that I think the Bos are a better team than Bates and Colby. The Mules are strong at the top, but Tufts is stronger, and Bates doesn’t have nearly as strong a top as they’ve had for the past decade now. Tufts is the favorite, that’s what makes this a not-so-bold prediction, but it’s not a slam dunk.
1) Boris Sorkin, sophomore, UTR=13.13, range=1-1. I’ve written about Boris ad nauseum this fall, because, quite simply, he deserved it Funny how that works when you’re the best player in the country! If you want to read more, go ahead and check out either my NE ITA preview, NE ITA recap, our ITA Cup preview, or my ODE TO BORIS. More importantly than any of that, my guy slays…
#1 player in the country- CHECK
Highly awarded comedian- CHECK pic.twitter.com/swBYTTBqOJ— Tufts Men's Tennis (@TuftsMensTennis) December 1, 2018
2) Ben Biswas, junior, UTR=11.55, range=2-5. Benny Bis has been the best player other than Boris for the Jumbos so far this fall. Although he often played behind Grant and Niemiec last year, he looks to be the most likely No. 2 come springtime, and its not all that close. Bis took down Eazor (projected Midd #3-5) and Tzeng (projected Brandeis #1-4) at Midd before falling to Wernink (projected Bates #1-2) in a super, had a tough draw with Big Barr (projected MIT #1-2) in the 1st round of the ITA, made the QF at Bates and the Tufts/Brandeis tournament, where he fell 12-10 to Noah Farrell (projected Midd #1-2). Very impressive for a guy who played #6 for most of last year! Here’s hoping BB8 becomes another on a long list of talented NESCAC players who make the jump from playing really good #5/6 to the top of the lineup (in recent years that includes Urken, Tercek, Rosen, Trinka, likely Kam, and probably a ton more who I’m forgetting).
3) Carl-Herman Grant, sophomore, UTR =11.09, range=2-6. Before the season, I would have said Carl was the best bet to play #2 for the Bos this year, as the freshman started for almost all of last season. He and Nathan should be neck and neck, as noted by their incredibly close UTR (really, look at all the UTR of the guys from #3 down, it’s crazy how tight they all are), but Carl has consistently played behind Niemiec this fall. He got a solid win over Patel (projected Bowdoin #4-7) at the ITA before getting stomped by Ma (projected Amherst #1-2). He also made the semis of the B-Flight at Midd, including a crazy 18-16 super win in the quarters, lost in the 1st round at Bates (Patel avenging his loss from the ITA), and capped off his fall by pushing Bessette (projected Herst #3) to a super.
4) Nathan Niemiec, junior, UTR=11.08, range=2-5. Niemiec is another guy with a decent amount of experience, and even got some matchplay up near the top of the lineup at the end of last year (he pushed Wynne to 14-12 in a super, and beat Imrie from RPI). However, Nathan didn’t play singles at either Midd or the ITA to start the fall. He won a round at Bates before falling to Wang (projected Bowdoin #3-5) in straight sets, and then got smoked by Alex Taylor (projected Williams #3-7) at home in the final tournament of the fall. Nx2 will also almost certainly be featured prominently in the doubles lineup this spring as well. He played doubles for the majority of last year, and played at the highest doubles level in every fall tournament in which he competed. Sorkin isn’t known for his dubs, so the top pair is totally up for grabs, and it wouldn’t shock me to see either Grant and/or Niemiec at the top spot.
5) Isaac Gorelick, freshman, UTR=11.09, range=4-7. Our first freshman! Isaac had a very nice fall, starting off his career by winning the C-Flight at Midd including wins over Vohra, Kogan, and Niguidula. That vaulted him up the ladder and earned him a spot at ITAs and the B-Flight at Wallach, however he lost both of those matches in the 1st round, and dropped back to B-Flight for the final tournament of the fall, where he also lost in the first round. However, those losses were to Bessette (projected Amherst #3) and Kam (projected Williams #2), so I’m not too worried about those. The young Jumbo has some firepower and getting him match experience soon will make a big difference for Tufts down the road.
6) Jack Moldenhauer, freshman, UTR=11.15, range=4-7. Another freshman, the spots between #5 and #7 are a virtual tossup. Moldy won his 1st round match at Midd, then lost 12-10 to Kogan (projected Brandeis #1-5) in a super. He had his best tourney of the fall at Bates where he made the finals of the C-Flight, including a nice win over fellow freshman Ruparel (Amherst projected #5-7). before losing to Delman (projected Bowdoin #5-7). After that performance, he was bumped up to A-Singles for his home tournament, but lost in the first round to Carstens (projected Bowdoin #5-7). Again, it wouldn’t surprise me to see Shaff here over Jack or Isaac, and it’s probably the safer projection, but that’s why I get paid the big bucks.
IN THE HUNT: Zach Shaff (junior, UTR =10.98), Ethan Bershstein (junior, UTR=11.10), Niko Hereford (sophomore, UTR=11.02), Owen Bartok (sophomore, UTR=11.08), Akash Verma (freshman, UTR=10.89), Paris Pentousis (freshman, UTR=11.58). As I mentioned in the intro, this is a totally ridiculous section. I probably could have included more people as well (apologies to more familiar names like Scanlon and Kamin). Verma played a lot this fall, but never had the results, and Pentousis didn’t play a lick in tournaments, but he gets into this section due to his high UTR. That leaves four guys to focus on. Coach Gregor must like Bartok, as he was seeded at Midd to start the year in the C-Flight, and played again later in the fall, but without inspiring results. Hereford started fine at Midd, but then wasn’t heard from again in singles. Bershstein, played doubles last year, and along with Niko is more likely to make a contribution to that section of the lineup, but it wouldnt shock me if the junior got a shot at #6 during the season too. Finally Mr. Shaff. This was the toughest forecasting decision of this preview, as I think he could easily end up playing #4 or #5 for the Bos this spring. However, only one tournament appearance in singles this fall, and while he pushed Morris (projected Midd #3-5), that’s all we have to go on. Unlike anybody else in this section, or even the guys ahead of him, Shaff has real lineup experience which will certainly work in his favor. He might not be the high-upside play, but he’s likely the more reliable one.
What a schedule! There are only two options, 1) Tufts will be the perfect ranking fodder, having played so many teams in the #10-35 range OR 2) Tufts will be the perfect chaos agent due to their wins over higher and losses to lower ranked teams. The first match of the year is a doozy at Brandeis. Both teams are vying for top-15 status, and they are similar in that they are deep beyond the starting six and doing their darnedest to gain relevance in a top-10 obsessed culture. Deis should come in with the edge given their doubles prowess over the past year, and the fact that they match up fairly well with Tufts given that their weakest spot is likely #1 singles. However, being a favorite/extremely lofty expectations is not something Brandeis has dealt with before, and we saw that same issue claim a talented Wesleyan team in 2018. This should be a great barometer for both teams to start the year.
Watch “TMT 2018 Presents: God’s Plan” on #Vimeo https://t.co/IxJdQJ8j3n
— Tufts Men’s Tennis (@TuftsMensTennis) March 26, 2018
After Deis, the Bos head west (Thank U, Next already a top contender for the music video, especially if they string together some wins). They start out by playing Caltech, Sewanee, Denison, and Pomona-Pitzer in a four-day stretch. Those are all dangerous teams, and it would be perfectly reasonable to say that Tufts goes 4-0 on that trip. However, you could just as easily make the argument that the Jumbos end that first section of #SB19 1-3 and fighting to maintain a top-30 ranking. But that’s not all, no matter how the first four matches go, Tufts also has an improving GFU team and a trip to the desert to take on a sneaky Redlands squad looking to put last year in the rear-view mirror. Once again, nothing between 1-5 and 5-1 would shock me on this trip, although my bias does lead me towards the better of those two records.
After spring break things quiet down as much as they can during NESCAC season. Tufts starts out with a wet blanket of a weekend going to Amherst before returning home to battle Wesleyan. Your Bos will be underdogs in both matches, but I wouldn’t count them out in either match. Tufts then hosts Williams and Trinity Ct before a road date with the national champs. Finally, Tufts ends the regular season with a bang, playing five matches in seven days including hosting Conn and MIT, going to Colby, coming back to host Bates, and going BACK to Maine to finish off the year at Bowdoin. Like always, a win over any of the top 5 conference teams would go a LONG ways in ensuring Tufts both a top-15 finish and their first NESCACs berth in three years, however the most likely scenario is that their home match on Wednesday, April 24th against the Bobcats will be a virtual play-in match for the conference tournament.
this is bogus. no respect. we finna win a natty. roll bos.