Panthers in Maine

The Panthers returned late Sunday night from a weekend of action at the Wallach Invitational tournament, hosted by Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. We’ve seen competition every other weekend this fall season, and the chance to go back to the drawing board after each event has led to major strides in certain aspects of our games. In particular, we’ve put a focus on improving our serves and the work we’ve put in showed during the weekend.

Boys of Fall

Our best result was in Ari Smolyar winning the A singles draw; Ari battled through 2 close matches before shifting into high gear for his final two matches, giving up a combined 5 games in the semi-finals and finals. Ari’s commitment to attacking his serve and to maintaining a positive attitude on court came through beautifully.

Natives of North Carolina, USA

Freshman sensation, Noah Farrell, lit up the court en route to the A singles draw semi-finals. His semi-final loss was closely contested and was avenged by Ari in the finals as Panthers always have each other's backs.

Will De Quant had a break out tournament in winning the D singles draw, edging teammate Pete Heidrich in the final. Will used his forehand as a major weapon, and Pete dug his heals in, making Will earn his bacon- hats off to both Panthers.

Captain Frost with rookie teammate, Will DQ

Courtney Mountifield, while losing a match we all know he can win, made a huge stride in his ability to hit an aggressive forehand. Also impressive was Courntey’s serve, which reached velocities previously unseen by spectators, teammates, coaches, and all those familiar with the diverse Mountifield skillset.

This doubles pairing has SKILLS

On the doubles side, we saw high level of play from Chris Frost and partner Will, reaching the final match in the B doubles draw. Chris continues to post solid doubles results with various partners. Despite this good result, it seems we’ve faired better in singles through out the fall season, and thus will enter the next 2 weeks of practice with special attention to doubles. 

Headed to the top!

Our next competition comes in the form of a series of “hidden dual matches” to be played at Tufts University on the weekend of the 25^th. We couldn’t be more thrilled to watch the maturation of our boys in competition and to put to test all our hard work as a group.

Over and out, Midd Tennis Nation.

Coaches