After a season marked by plenty of ups and downs, the Boston University men’s tennis team will get a chance to prove its regular-season success was not a fluke when it plays in the America East Conference championship this weekend looking to capture its first conference title since 1996.
The Terriers head into the tournament as the No. 2 seed after finishing an impressive regular season in which they dominated many weaker opponents and pulled off a few upsets against notable opponents. BU coach Rocky Jarvis has said all along he thinks his squad has as good a chance as any to win the conference tournament to get an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
“There are really four teams coming in that are pretty equal, and it will just be about who brings their best stuff,” said Jarvis after the Terriers’ match against Tufts University last Saturday.
The University of Maryland-Baltimore County earned the top seed after posting an undefeated record in its four America East matches — also providing BU’s only conference loss this season. The Terriers recorded several match points against UMBC back in their February matchup at the Track and Tennis Center, but they were unable to put the Retrievers away, falling 4-3.
The Terriers will face third-seed Stony Brook University in the first round of the conference tournament Saturday, when they will meet for the first time this season.
Fourth-seeded Binghamton University, whom the Terriers upset earlier this season, will play a preliminary match against No. 5 Hartford University Friday afternoon, with the winner moving on to play UMBC on Saturday for a spot in the finals.
BU heads into the conference tournament on a hot streak, winning six of its last seven matches to finish the season at 12-9. Senior Barrett Wolf was recently named America East Men’s Tennis Player of the Week after dominating his singles match, 6-2, 6-0, and helping junior Giulio Gallarotti to an 8-4 doubles victory last week against Tufts.
The Terriers have benefited from strong doubles play all season, with a lineup of three strong doubles teams. In addition to Wolf and Gallarotti in the first slot, junior Phil DeMeo and freshman Jeff Chudacoff have moved up to the second spot after their recent success. Ross Lohr and sophomore Charles Weinstein make up the final pairing for BU at third doubles.
In first singles, Wolf has won 13 of his 20 matches this season. Weinstein will likely play at second doubles, with Gallarotti set at third. Although injuries have hindered junior Jared Kobren for much of the year, he will most likely play in the fourth spot. Chudacoff and Lohr round out the squad at fifth and sixth, respectively.