Momentum is working on the side of the Boston University men’s tennis team, as they moved back to .500 after easily handling the Holy Cross Crusaders in a 6-1 victory Wednesday afternoon. It was the second-straight victory for the Terriers (8-8), who are about to enter the most important stretch of their season.
After a strong 5-2 victory against Fairfield University last Thursday, the team said they were in high spirits heading into its match against Holy Cross. The Terriers came back from their trip to southern California during Spring Break with a renewed vigor, playing inspired tennis that left BU coach Rocky Jarvis thoroughly impressed.
“I really thought that was a great win for our guys,” Jarvis said. “It was nice to see that the work we put in during our trip to California actually mattered.”
The Terriers did not let up any of the pressure against Holy Cross, which won its only point on a forfeit when BU sophomore Charles Weinstein was forced to retire his match because of cramps. After having trouble finishing three-straight home matches, Weinstein’s injury is becoming a concern for the team.
“Charles started to cramp up at the beginning of the second set,” Jarvis said. “We had a whole brain trust there trying to figure out what was going on. He’s had some issues lately, and we’ve done everything we can. We even changed his diet, but he’s still having trouble.”
Besides the cramping problem, the Terriers breezed through the rest of their matches on the way to a convincing victory. BU did not lose a single game in the three doubles matches, winning each by a score of 8-0. While Holy Cross is not of the Terriers’ toughest opponents this season, yesterday’s contest was still an important victory. Jarvis cites the doubles teams as a sign of great improvement for BU.
“I would suspect we’ve never done that before,” Jarvis said of the three shutouts in doubles matches. “I suppose you could say it wasn’t even that close. Two years ago we would’ve been able to field one, maybe one-and-a-half solid doubles teams, but now we’ve got five legitimate teams. It’s really cool to see that we’ve gotten so much better.”
The Terriers’ depth is becoming their greatest strength as the season progresses. Senior Barrett Wolf is clearly the ace of the squad, having defeated Holy Cross’s Angelo Sica, 6-0, 6-0 and won his doubles match. He also remains undefeated in league play, and he has a strong support group backing him up.
“The reality is that our team is so deep that aside from Barrett, everybody else from two through 10, anybody can beat anybody on any given day,” Jarvis said. “It’s nice that we can play all sorts of people with a lot of confidence.”
Junior Giulio Gallarotti was an especially bright spot for BU on Wednesday once again. Gallarotti, paired with Wolf, had a solid doubles outing and followed that up with a convincing victory in his singles match. His play yesterday showed continuing improvement that he displayed last week against Fairfield University.
“Giulio really had a coming-of-age day today,” Jarvis said. “This may be the start of really good things for him.
“Giulio has enough game, enough talent that if he plays at the right level, I’d like to see him come through to the top of the lineup,” Jarvis added. “He’s playing way up higher on the ladder right now. That could be a real big plus for the team.”
The Terriers know that every match is not going to be smooth sailing as they enter a critical stretch of the season that will ultimately determine their postseason ranking. BU will host Binghamton University on Sunday at the Track and Tennis Center at 2 p.m. before playing at Harvard University next Tuesday.
“We’ve got Thursday, Friday and Saturday to rest up, and we’ve got a huge match Sunday,” Jarvis said. “We’ve got a legitimate shot to upset Binghamton. My guys are toughened up by the California trip and on a bit of a roll. This could be a really good moment for us. I’ve always felt we’ve had a few big upsets in us.”
Jarvis said he knows that a win would mean great things for his squad, and getting the fans’ support would only help the team’s chances.
“If we could beat Binghamton, we’re right in the mix with everybody for a top seed in the [America East] Conference Championships,” Jarvis said. “It would be great for the guys if we could get some fan support for this match.”
