Panthers Win Two Titles at TuftsDeis

The Panthers finished the last of our four Fall tournaments with many strong performances and the coaching staff was extremely pleased to see that the Panthers played their best tennis all Fall. Even though we still have many levels of improvement ahead, we are definitely heading in the right direction as a group.

A follow-up to last year’s MIT tournament, the TuftsDeis invitational demonstrated an amazingly high level of competition with eight top tier DIII programs competing.  The Panthers collected two of the four possible titles!

A Flight Champion Noah Farrell '19 

Farrell '19 serving big!

Noah Farrell led the way grabbing the A flight singles crown with five consecutive wins over elite DIII players including a straight set victory over Sean Wei (ranked #9 in the nation after last season). Noah's competitive spirit and ability to switch and use his left hand when on the dead run makes watching his play particularly special and exciting. Winning the B flight doubles crown was Aleks Samets and Andre Xiao. The pair partnered extremely well with Andre tracking from the back and Aleks cleaning up at net, each only having their serve broken once all tournament long en route to their title.

B Flight Doubles Champs Andre Xiao '21 and Aleks Samets '20

                         

The rest of the Panthers also put in some great work including….

·      Stan Morris winning a match versus Austin Barr (ranked #30 nationally).

·      Nate Eazor and Stan Morris got their first win as a doubles pair.

·      Andre Xiao picked up two singles victories over MIT and Bowdoin.

·      Weston Brach picked up two singles wins over Tufts and Brandeis.

·      Weston Brach and David Vilys got a doubles win over Bowdoin.

·      Adam Guo picked up two singles wins over Tufts and Wesleyan.

·      David Vilys picked up two singles wins over Wesleyan and Brandeis.

Eazor '21, Sutton '19, Samets '20, and Guo '21 fueling up!

A complete description of the tournament can be seen here: http://athletics.middlebury.edu/sports/mten/2018-19/releases/20181014sys4em

Ring Ceremony

Last weekend we also had a final celebration for our 2018 NCAA Championship with our ring ceremony and reception. Made incredibly special by the return of our three recent graduates (two traveling all the way back from Europe), Will de Quant, Kyle Schlanger, and Timo van der Geest were back in the house! It was an incredibly special event to share memories and reminisce over such a fun and successful year. The lifelong bonds that were formed last year were evident, and the uniquely close camaraderie of the Panther program continues to be a hallmark of our culture.

Beautiful weather for our ceremony at the homecoming
football game.  Midd won by 1 point over Bates!

Another critical component of our success that was again on display was the wonderful and amazing support of our parents both near and far. Three players had parents who joined our celebration including Weston Brach, Nate Eazor, and Cole Sutton. Of course, the parents in attendance helped to document videos and pictures they distributed via our parent group chat so that everyone could feel the love and fun from wherever they were! As always, huge thank you to our incredibly supportive group of parents!

The jewelry!

Off-Season Training

The off-season will be a critical time period where we need to get fully healthy and also continue to build our games and hearts to be fully prepared for the challenges that lie ahead. We look forward to handing the responsibility of off-season training to our four senior captains. Noah Farrell, Peter Martin, Cole Sutton, and Lubomir Cuba will play a huge role in ensuring that each and every Panther player is doing everything they can to get ready for the Spring. Championships are won in the off-season! From on court, in the gym, on the track, and mental training the Panthers will continue to work each aspect of the game to try to give our group the best chance of being successful when it matters most toward the end of the year.

Wishing everyone in the Middlebury Tennis Family a wonderful rest of the Fall!

The Middlebury Men’s Tennis Coach Staff