Last spring the men’s tennis team accomplished something unprecedented — they made it to the NCAA tournament for the first time in the history of the program.
This season the Bombers are setting their sights even higher, hoping to make it past the first round. With a strong group of returning players, the Blue and Gold have a strong shot at making that happen.
“We’ve got a really strong team, and I think we’re going to do really well, especially in the Empire 8,” the team’s lone senior, Jeff Buffum, said.
Along with Buffum, the Bombers return sophomores Taylor Borda, Danny Wolk and Liam Berkowitz. They also have freshmen Alex Stoler and Josh Rifkin to fill the holes left by the departure of Colin Flynn ’07 and Joe Young ’07.
“We’re stronger this year,” Berkowitz said. “We lost two seniors from the starting lineup, but we’ve got two new freshmen and they’re both really good players. We’re just a really deep team. We’re young, but we’re deep.”
Head Coach Bill Austin said the overwhelming presence of youth is not a disadvantage of his squad.
“We’ve got a great bunch of kids,” he said. “They all have tennis experience … and they’re working hard. To have kids that work hard, have talent and are motivated, that’s never a disadvantage.”
Last season the Bombers went 9–13 in the regular season, which was good enough to earn them the No. 3 seed in the Empire 8 tournament. There they defeated the Rochester Institute of Technology to win the Empire 8 title and clinch an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament. After the Bombers jumped out to a 4–0 lead against the University of Southern Maine, the Huskies rallied to defeat the Blue and Gold 5–4 and eliminate them from the tournament.
Despite the tough loss, Austin said he’s not bitter.
“It was a dream for the seniors,” he said. “We had a rough season, we had a tough schedule and we weren’t always healthy, and we really put it together at the end to win the Empire 8. It was just a tremendous experience.”
Austin said the tough loss doesn’t overshadow the meaning of the NCAA berth.
“We were up in that match pretty big, we just couldn’t close it out. But it doesn’t take any muster off of what they accomplished last year, which was a real milestone for the program,” Austin said.
The Bombers also had a solid fall season this year, defeating RIT and Hobart College but falling to St. Lawrence University. More importantly, the Bombers had an opportunity to bond as a team.
“We played well in the fall,” Buffum said. “We were more or less getting our momentum together, seeing … who you can play with, who best suits your playing style. We kind of molded as a team during the fall.”
Standing in the way of the Bombers in their quest for a fifth Empire 8 championship in six years is Empire 8 newcomer Stevens Institute of Technology.
“Winning Empire 8s is going be harder this year because of Stevens,” Berkowitz said. “They’re like us. They’re a very deep team and very solid, so those matches are going to be very important. We’re playing them in April, and that’s going be a gauge for where we’re at heading into the tournament. If all goes as planned we should be meeting them in the E8 finals.”
Austin said the Ducks will add to an already tough conference.
“They’re going to be tough,” Austin said. “They’ve got a good team. Nazareth usually has a real good squad, and RIT is usually up and in there, but Stevens is tough. We’ve seen them play and they’re good.”
The Bombers will travel to Hilton Head, S.C., during spring break to play four non-conference opponents that will prepare them for their season.
“It’s a proving ground,” Austin said. “We don’t shy away from it down there. That makes us tougher when we get up here.”
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