Panthers (11-5) Post Two Strong NESCAC Wins Before Heading to Maine this Weekend

What a fun senior weekend it was! Our senior captains played in their final regular season home matches (we will also be hosting the NESCAC tournament this year), and the matches could not have been much more exciting. As a coaching staff, we felt that our doubles play still needs a lot of work, but it has become apparent that we are a force to be reckoned with on the singles courts!

Xiao came up big for the Panthers this weekend!

Tufts Match Highlights

We had wonderfully beautiful spring weather for our Tufts match at 60-plus degrees and sunny, but unfortunately this context did not elicit our best doubles performance. In fact, Tufts demonstrated they are a force on the doubles court and played extremely well to beat us at all three doubles positions. We certainly have a lot to work on to get better, but credit to Tufts for coming at us from the get go. Being down 0-3 against a feisty Tufts team that had just won 4 of 6 singles matches against Williams the preceding weekend, we knew we had quite the uphill climb ahead of us. Fortunately, the Panthers took the court prepared to battle! Noah put the first point on the board for us (he has been making this a habit of late) with a 6-3, 6-0 win at #2 singles. Sophomores Nate Eazor and Adam Guo also posted straight set wins for the Panthers, getting us right back in contention. As the momentum kept building, the Panthers were able to complete the rare 0-3 comeback victory as we won at every spot in singles! Cuba and Morris both posted three set wins against strong players, and Xiao won in a very competitive and long two-set match against a very good opponent. See full match recap here. Building some confidence, at least on the singles court, the Panthers were really looking forward to a fun battle against Williams the next day after they just beat Wesleyan 5-4.  

Nothing like regrouping during the team meeting
after doubles heading into singles play!

Williams Match Highlights

Looking to ensure that we would not get in a hole after doubles was going to be a challenge, as Williams has been playing some of the best doubles in the country of late. They also got off to a quick start against us, as their #1 doubles team was too tough and was the first match off giving Williams the first team point. However, the Panthers dug in and kept fighting. After being down an early break, Farrell/Martin played some of their best doubles of the year and posted an impressive 8-3 score to secure a doubles point for the Panthers. Williams ended up pulling away at #3 doubles, forcing us into an all too familiar position of needing to battle back in singles after doubles play (down 2-1). With confidence growing on the singles court, the Panthers charged out of the gates yet again. Farrell put up a shocking 6-0, 6-0 score at #2 singles, tying up the match quickly. Four other matches were won in straight sets, with Williams winning at #4 and #5 singles. Cuba and Eazor each posted straight set victories of their own at #1 and #6 singles respectively, knotting the team score at 4-4 with only #3 singles left to play. Sophomore Andre Xiao put on an amazing display of tennis to win 6-3 in the third with all eyes on him in the biggest of moments. It is always a rare opportunity to be the last match on with a tied team score, and Xiao took full advantage of enjoying the moment (see video below)! Another gritty team win that made us one very proud coaching staff! See full match recap here. 

Upcoming Schedule

Fri 4pm at Bates

Sat 2pm at Bowdoin

Check out our links for live scoring/streaming on our results/schedule page (https://athletics.middlebury.edu/sports/mten/2018-19/schedule). We believe video live streaming will only be available for an outdoor match on Saturday.

Go Midd!

The Middlebury Men’s Tennis Coach Staff