After a rocky Friday, the Boston University’s men’s tennis team was able to fight back with a strong weekend at the Brown Invitational in Providence.
Before the action even began, BU had lost two of their top players, senior Adam Siegal and sophomore Jimmy Arakanji, to back injuries, and senior Jon Mofsky was unable to make it to this weekend’s play. Then, when play on the first day had concluded, BU was still searching for its first win.
“I think we’re in a tough situation,” BU coach Jeremy Taylor said. “I don’t have all my starters. I was forced to go with four starters and four backups this weekend.”
The BU players’ level of play picked up over the weekend, as junior Geoffrey Wagner was able to defeat Rhode Island’s Dustin Parente (7-6, 6-7, 10-3) in the A2 flight. Unfortunately, he was less successful in his next match against Jesse Paer of Dartmouth College (5-7, 3-6).
“It was good to get some matches in,” Wagner said. “I faced a lot of strong competitors, and it was great preparation for when we start playing against other teams in our conference.”
Other BU players were also able to build on their confidence with victories this weekend. Senior J.P. Debbink, sophomore Manuel Bulauitan, and freshman Nick Ganias all left Providence with two victories under their belts. On another positive note, seniors Jason Vinoles and Noel Moossa were able to come away with a win against opponents from Iona College and Fairfield University, respectively.
“The match play is really helping everyone get better,” Moosa said. “In my three years we’re doing the best we’ve ever done. Everything Coach has taught us in practice has greatly improved our play on the court.”
While Taylor said he believes tournaments such as the Brown Invitational are not very important, he does see a purpose in them.
“All these tournaments don’t mean anything, but they are a good way to build up strength and fitness for the spring season,” Taylor said.
Wagner agreed that this weekend was, in one way, beneficial.
“The heat was really bad, and we played a lot of matches in a small amount of time,” Wagner said. “So this really helped with my conditioning.”
Moosa also saw another helpful aspect of the Invitational.
“These tournaments allow more players to play [than duels], so our younger players are able to get some match play experience,” Moosa said.
On the doubles side, the team of Wagner/Moossa finished the invitational with great results in the D1 flight, which was the Invitational’s toughest doubles bracket. After a hard loss to Dartmouth in the opening match, they were able to defeat both the University of Montreal and St. John’s University. The tandems of Vinoles/Debbink and Ganias/Delacruz also came away with two victories in the D2 and D4 flights. Krzysztof Kubacki/Bulauiton also notched one victory over Prather/Tierney from the University of New Hampshire in the D3 flight.
“Last year our doubles play was a real weakness, but already we have already shown a noticeable improvement in that area,” Wagner said.
“Guys are much more comfortable with moving, getting involved, they’re not afraid to come up to the net anymore, Taylor commented.
BU will try to continue to improve in all areas as they head to Storrs, Conn., for the Connecticut Invitational this weekend.