Teams: Men's Squash: Team Overview

The Tufts University men's squash program has long been respected on the national squash scene. A long line of outstanding players, including several All-Americans, has helped establish this reputation. The men's schedule includes New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) rivals and Ivy League powerhouses. Now in his 13th season with the team is head coach Doug Eng. Last year's team finished 12-13 with a National Ranking of #18. For most of the season, the team was ranked #14 or #15.

For the 2007-2008 season, the men's team retains the top of the team. Graduated co-captains Dan Karlin (career record: 26-16) and David Linz (career career: 32-30) will be missed, but the team is expected to be even stronger. Tri-captains Jake Gross, Kris Leetavorn and Nelson Schubart will provide excellent leadership. Gross has made strong runs at All-American status in the past two years and is a strong candidate once again. He currently has 36 wins and is expected to break the all-time career wins record at Tufts this season. Senior Jonah Peppiatt is expected to add to the team's depth.

The junior class returns Chris Delaney, who qualified for the College Squash Association Individual Championships. While Delaney is expected to hold down a top spot on the team, Chris Martin, Josh Levinson and Brian Rassel could contribute significantly at the lower end of the starting line-up. Sophomores John Subranni, Scott Leighton, Max Dalury and Zach Bradley showed great maturity and made significant contributions as freshmen last year. Dalury and Leighton led the team with 15 wins. The entering freshman class includes Alex Gross, Benjamin Rind and Kevin FitzGerald, who should make strong bids to start on the team.

Goals for the team in 2007-2008 include a return to the Hoehn Division at Nationals and going for a ranking in the top 12. The hard-working Jumbos practice at Tufts, Belmont Hill and Harvard and prepare with on-court pressure drilling, tactical situational games, and technical work. Non-racquet and off-court practice includes ghosting, interval training, strength and conditioning and flexibility training. The team also works with mental toughness training and tactical court awareness exercises. The holistic training philosophy for the Jumbos involves emotional, tactical/cognitive, physical, and technical training. The Tufts program is centered on complete development of the student-athlete and a healthy relationship with communication between players and coaches.

As members of the NESCAC, Tufts is part of the nation's most competitive small college conference academically and athletically. The NESCAC is a group of highly selective liberal arts colleges and universities that share an academics-first philosophy for intercollegiate athletics. Tufts squash players train both on and off the court to be future leaders. Recent graduates have gone on to graduate, business and medical schools, as well as successful professional and business careers.

Coach Eng holds three degrees from Tufts (BSChE 1984, MS in 1987 and PhD in 1990), and an EdD in sport pedagogy/psychology from Boston University. He was the assistant coach at Tufts in 1992-93 and has taught and coached tennis and squash for nearly twenty years. Eng holds certifications from the United States Squash Racquets Association (Level II) and the Professional Squash Association. He has worked with dozens of regionally and nationally players. He has served on the board of several different regional and national organizations and committees in squash and tennis. Eng lectures and writes on sport sciences for squash and tennis organizations and magazines, and is an expert on sport psychology and coaching theory. Over the past two years, he has served as head coach of the men's tennis team and has also previously coached the women's tennis team.

Located right outside of Boston, Tufts offers a well-rounded collegiate experience to student-athletes. Within its picturesque small-college campus, Tufts is a major university with "an unprecedented diversity of programs, exceptional faculty and staff, and bright and talented students," according to President Lawrence S. Bacow. The Athletics Department sponsors a varsity program of 28 sports that is among the most competitive in the NCAA's Division III. Tufts finished sixth in the 2006 U.S. Sports Academy Directors' Cup, the prestigious award presented annually to the best overall collegiate athletics programs in the country. The University's proximity to a world-class city renowned for its academic institutions is also a major draw.