Happy 2020
to our Middlebury Tennis family! We want to wish everyone a Happy New Year, and
also share with you our excitement for the upcoming Spring tennis season. As Middlebury
College’s first men’s tennis program competed in 1920, this Spring will mark
the 100th season of competition. Middlebury Tennis competed in only
a single match in 1920 and posted a final record of 0 wins and 1 loss. Things
sure have changed drastically through the decades, but it is fun to have a
sense of being connected to where our program began. To see the team record
during the past 99 season, click here.
Returners
from Study Abroad
As a coaching
staff, we consistently have to pinch ourselves for the privilege we have in
being able to work with another wonderful group of young men this year. The
Fall was incredibly fun and productive, but we are especially thrilled to have
our full team in force on campus now with the return of Nate Eazor and Thorne
Gregory from their experiences studying in Australia and Spain. We love the
enthusiasm and passion they both will add to our already sizzling team culture!
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| Nate and Elaine (Mom) in Australia! |
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| Thorne and friends traveling in Europe! |
End of
Fall and Pre-Season Rankings
The team pre-season rankings for
the 2020 season were just recently released by the ITA and the
Panthers have been recognized as the #3 team in the nation and #1 in the
northeast. It is certainly fun to begin the season at these heights, but we
know that every year it takes a new effort and that we will have the
opportunity to challenge ourselves against many strong opponents throughout the
season. As always, we do not put too much stock in the numbers, but rather
aim toward building a championship program that sets its sights high. We strive
to explore our mastery of the game of tennis and are not shy in setting our
goal at trying to be the #1 team in the nation when it is all said and done. We
look forward to the fun and challenging journey ahead this season!
Individually,
we have three players who earned spots in the top 50 national ranking list with
Stanley Morris at #2, Robby Ward at #43, and Alex Vanezis at #44. So fun to
have multiple guys earn this amazing honor! These same players three players
are currently ranked in the top 10 in the Northeast region at #2, #9, and #10
respectively. Great to see the depth of our program being recognized in this
way.
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| Two thirds of our freshman class is all smiles and making good use of our college's own ski hill! |
We also wanted to share with you
our finalized schedule for the spring. As a reminder, all times are listed in EST. We have a
fun and challenging schedule planned, with many matches that will allow us to
test ourselves against some of the toughest competition in DIII, as well as
some challenging matches against non-DIII opponents as well.
As
always, our match schedule picks up steam on our spring break trip when we will
be returning to Claremont, CA. Taco Man here we come!
Spring-Break
Fundraising
Among
our highest priorities for creating a rich and meaningful Middlebury College
Tennis experience for our players is ensuring a successful Spring Break trip each
year. This critical time is an event where the travel strengthens our bonds and camaraderie, and acts as a catalyst for our journey to compete for a national
championship by testing ourselves against high level competition throughout the
week. We would not be able to make this trip happen for each and every one of
our team members, without the generous help and support of our Middlebury
Tennis friends and family.
Please click the following link to donate and contribute to our spring break fundraising.
Thanks
for reading along and stay tuned for more blog updates soon!
Go Midd!
