For the second straight year, Marist College dominated the UConn Invitational tennis tournament. But this time, BU senior captain Barrett Wolf did everything in his power to stop it.
Wolf advanced to the championship match in flight-A singles, breezing through the first three rounds before eventually losing to Marist’s Paraguayan standout Pedro Genovese in straight sets, 7-5, 6-4.
It was an intriguing match-up because the two are known for completely opposite styles, with Genovese relying on a huge serve and a big forehand and Wolf using greater quickness and a wider variety of shots. Through three games, the match was going back and forth, with the two No. 1 players combining for 17 winners.
“They were playing at an extremely high level and there were almost no mistakes,” said BU coach Rocky Jarvis, who was able to watch the entire match and chart every shot since no other BU player made it to his respective championship. “A few games slipped through [Wolf’s] fingers and he got a little frustrated. But to Barrett’s credit, he rallied again.”
Jarvis is confident his captain will bounce back and is looking for a different outcome when Marist and the Terriers meet for a dual match in mid-February.
Wolf’s strong play is even more crucial in these fall tournaments, with junior Jared Kobren shelved until the spring after his arthroscopic wrist surgery showed more damage than originally thought. Kobren’s rehabilitation is underway and he should be ready by January.
“Ordinarily, we would have a very solid one-two combination,” Jarvis said of finding a doubles partner for Wolf. “With Jared out, Barrett has been playing up to his potential and his on-court leadership has been very important.”
Besides Kobren, freshman Armir Mehmeti’s Terrier debut has been put on hold because a paperwork issue. Even without a couple of top players, Jarvis is pleased with what they have accomplished and remains confident that they can compete with the tough schedule that he has put together.
“I haven’t had a team as deep as we are this year,” Jarvis said. “We have 12 or 13 guys that can contribute to the varsity team and they can all train with each other during the off-season.”
The strength in depth is shown in the doubles team of freshman Jeff Chudacoff and sophomore Charles Weinstein, who transferred from conference rival Binghamton University. They built on their flight-B championship last weekend at the Scott Satran Memorial Tournament in Queens, N.Y., impressing Jarvis, who considers the underclassmen his No. 2 doubles pair.
Another interesting side note this season is a level of parity that Jarvis has never before seen. Just recently, Manhattan College, which hasn’t done much of anything in recent memory, upset Harvard University, which defeated last year’s eventual NCAA champion Pepperdine University in the spring. This, according to Jarvis, has the Terriers even more motivated, and he is excited to see that the program is drawing closer to other national powerhouses.
The Terriers will see where they stack up amongst the cream of the crop when they host Harvard later in the season, but Binghamton remains the team to beat in the America East conference. According the Jarvis, Binghamton recruits players overseas who play semi-pro tennis and join the army for a few years before they sign to the tennis program.
Jarvis said it makes a big difference to have 23- or 24 year-olds playing against his 19-year-olds, which is why he pushes the team to train hard year round.
“[Binghamton] lost a lot of graduating seniors, but they have reloaded,” he said of the America East favorite. “It will be interesting to see what my guys do in between November and January. They will be in offseason mode, but these guys have the willpower and I know they will continue to work and remain focused. I’m excited to have a shot at stealing a conference championship.”
The Terriers play their first dual match of the year on the road against the University of Hartford tomorrow. This is the only non-tournament match until Jan. 28, when the Terriers travel to Rhode Island to face Brown University.