NESCAC (Regular Season) Champions!

When a team is not yet prepared to win big matches you can see it in the player's eyes when the opportunity presents itself. There is fear, nerves, and an unconscious, but deep seeded belief, that this is not going to end up well. On the contrary when a team has done the necessary work to prepare themselves for the 'moment' and truly believes that their efforts over the past few months and years have prepared them to perform courageously when it matters, it's just as evident. On Saturday the latter presented itself time and time again and whether it was in singles, doubles, or through support from the sidelines the Panther's believed.

Pre-match visualization in the locker room. Spoiler alert: Pete (lower right) is pretty good at this stuff. 

The most recent rendition of the classic Middlebury-Amherst NESCAC matchup took place in Nelson Arena (amazingly our 11^th match of the year that has been played inside versus only 8 outside) on the morning of Saturday, April 26^th with the winner earning the #1 seed in the NESCAC tournament the following weekend. Following the national anthem the double's teams took the courts and teed it up. At the #1 spot the match started on serve but the Lord Jeffs were looking strong. Joey Fritz, Amherst's #1 singles and doubles player, hits a very big ball and indoors his serve was untouchable. At the #2 spot the ever dependable team of Brantner Jones and Palmer Campbell came out hot and went up an early break 5-2, Campbell was especially toasty hitting several brilliant winners and then turning to the crowd and sticking out his tongue in his patented, yet bizarre, celebration ritual. 

B-Jones and Palmer before domination.
In the background notice Bob, who has a keen eye for net heights, ensuring that center strap is exactly thirty-six inches.

At #3 the Panther's were facing by the far the strongest team they had faced all year and looked unprepared early on. They went down 0-3 in a hurry before they finally settled in and started to trade service holds. #2 was the first off was a dominating 8-3 victory that gave the Panther's the 1-0 lead in the match. Shortly after #2 came off the #1 team of Andrew Lebovitz and Alex Johnston fell 8-6, unable to overcome a 4-4 service break and the match was knotted 1-1.

Lebo bringing his usual positive energy.

At #3 doubles things were not looking good. Down a single break 4-7 the Panther's would need a hold, a break, and another hold to put themselves back in contention. But as legendary hockey coach Herb Brooks once said, “Great moments are born from great opportunities.” And the Panther's certainly had a great opportunity. Ari Smolyar served a solid game to hold and push the score to 5-7, then returning against the extremely talented serve and volley specialist Michael Solimano, the Panther duo played a stunning return game to break for 6-7. A gritty service game by Smolyar pushed the match to 7-7 where both teams each picked up one more hold to send the match to a tiebreak. Before the tiebreak Smolyar and Peter Heidrich looked confident but Heidrich had an unsettling grin on his face. As Coach Sabel walked up to deliver some final words of encouragement Heidrich smiled big and said, “I've been visualizing this moment for the last couple of weeks.” And if visualizing can do to anyone else what it did to Heidrich in that breaker, we all should spend a couple minutes a day thinking about positive outcomes to pressure packed scenarios as he played some of the best doubles of the year to give Midd a 6-5 tiebreak lead. Not wanting to miss out the moment Smolyar did his best super hero side kick impersonation and hit a massive, untouchable return on match point to give the Panther's the 9-8(5) victory and the 2-1 lead going into singles.

Moment's after the #3 doubles clinch.

Pre-singles huddle.
One can only imagine who or what P-dawg is smiling at. 

As the singles started up it was evident, well I suppose more evident is a better term, that this match was going to be a war. Every match was tight with neither player in any match able to gain a two game advantage over his opponent. Eventually Jones broke away at #2 singles and took a 5-2 lead in the first. However, his opponenet locked in at battled back reeling off five straight games to give Amherst the first set at #2. At #1 Alex Johnston played a great first set and was able to come away with a tiebreak to give Midd the first set. At #3 Palmer Campbell got broken late in the set and couldn't recover as he dropped the first to one of Division III's few remaining true serve and volleyers. At #4 Ari Smolyar played his usual brand of aggressive, in your face tennis to grab the first 6-4 to give each team 2 first sets. At #1 singles Johnston upped his game to previously unseen levels that would've legitimately made him one of the better Division I players in the country, and reeled off an unbelievable 6 games in a row for a 7-6(4), 6-0 victory that give the Panther's their third point of the match.

Johno mobbed after his second set obliteration of Fritz.

Next off was #4 where Smolyar's opponent seemed uninterested in doing what it was going to take to beat the relentless Panther. In his defense, few have this year as Smolyar has gone an amazing 14-1 in singles play with his only loss coming 10-8 in a super tie break. Shortly after Smolyar came off and gave the Panther's the 4-1 lead the Jeff's shot back and grabbed #3 singles 6-4, 6-3 to push the score to 4-2. As #5 and #6 singles started Brantner Jones pulled off a trick you'd know was coming if you watched Brantner play this year and played a stellar second set to even the match at one set a piece. As the third set began it become evident that it was all going to come down to this match. While Jackson Frons and Courtney Mountifield were battling they both seemed to have met their opponents on the wrong day and on the wrong surface as each were on the wrong end of 6-1 first set losses. Jones played a great game at 3-3 and broke to go up 4-3. He held for 5-3 and then took a 15-40 lead in his opponent’s next service game that gave the Panther's two match, match points. In what Brantner would later describe as one of the worst forehands of this life (always one for the hyperbole is Mr. Jones) he lost the first, then lost the second to a bout of nerves when he failed to scoop a running forehand pass over the next. Amherst played two solid points to grab the hold and make the set score 5-4 with Brantner serving. Determined not to make the same mistake twice Brantner played a gritty and courageous service game unloading forehand after forehand to his opponent's backhand and sprinting to the net when the opportunity presented itself to go up 40-15. With yet another match, match point Jones spun a serve in, put his opponent on the ropes with consecutive forehands to opposite corners, then found one he liked and smashed it to the backhand side. He ran in behind it and poked a forehand volley up the line, well out of his opponent's reach, threw his racquet to the ground and thrust his hands in the air. Victory!

B-Jones clinches!

Bobby and Brantner hug it out.

Teammates join in on the celebration!
And Zach holds onto his lucky singles stick, which he refused to put down after B-Jone turned the tides in the second set.

The Panther's had about twenty-two minutes to enjoy the victory before hopping in the vans and making the three hour trek down to Medford, Massachusetts were the Panthers were slated to play the Tufts Jumbos in the morning. It is always a challenge getting back up for a match after such an emotional high and the Panther's certainly struggled in this regard versus the Jumbos. Nonetheless we managed to take two of three doubles and then four of six singles for a routine 6-3 win. In addition to our usual traveling leap of Panther parents it was great to see alums Kevin Bergersen and his father, Derrick Angle, as well as former head coach Dave Schwarz in the crowd. After the match we were fortunate enough to head thirty minutes north to Weston, Mass and eat an incredible spread of food at the Lebovitz's home before another three hour drive back to Midd.

This next weekend we'll head up to Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine to play in the NESCAC tournament. Because we're the #1 seed we will have a bye on Friday and then will face the lowest seed still left in the tournament on Saturday. Depending on how things go that will either be Bowdoin, Trinity, or Tufts. And if we do our job on Saturday the finals will be Sunday morning. Wish us luck and we'll report back next weekend, hopefully with a conference championship under our belt!

-Coaches Bob, Max, and Charles

Welcome to the Main Event(s)!

What a beautiful time to be a Panther tennis fan as we sit a few days removed as well as a few days from two of the season's biggest events. We'll start with the celebration of the senior class of 2014 which occurred this past Saturday and work our way forward to one of the biggest Division III regular season match-ups of the year.

Pre-match visualization the day before Bowdoin and R.P.I. 

14 Strong!

Just a few days ago on April 19^th the Panthers squared off against two formidable opponents in NESCAC foe Bowdoin, currently ranked #12 in the country, and a up an coming program in R.P.I. Bowdoin was the first match up of the day and it was touch and go all morning as to whether the match would be played indoors or outside. The forecast was calling for rain, but as anyone whose spent a bit of time in the area can attest to, the Champlain Valley does its own thing when it comes to weather. And despite ominous clouds looming throughout the warmup we were able to get started outside. 

The Polar Bears came out firing taking the leads at #1 and #3 doubles while the immensely talented duo of Palmer Campbell and Brantner Jones went up early at #2 and heading Coach Hansen's advice 'ran to the roar' for an 8-3 win to put Middlebury up 1-0. At the #1 position Andrew Lebovitz and Alex Johnston were unable to overcome early serving struggles and fell 8-5. Always looking to keep things interesting the #3 team of Peter Heidrich and Ari Smolyar managed to stage a late 'rally' to push the match to a tiebreak. In the breaker the boys found themselves down match point 5-6 before Heidrich came alive at the net knocking off three straight poaches for winners to give Midd a 9-8(6) win and 2-1 overall lead.

Pre-match national anthem. 

In the opening stages of singles the Polar Bears dug in and took first sets at #1, #2, and #5 while Midd grabbed the openers at #3, #4, and #6. Not long after he won his first set Jackson Frons was the first off at #6 with a dominating 6-0, 6-0 win. To be fair his opponent did seem to be a bit injured, but we'll take the double bagels where we can get them. Next off was Ari Smolyar who followed up a grinding 7-5 first set win with a Smolyar-esque 6-0 second set to push the overall to 4-1 in favor of Midd. At #1 and #5 singles Midd evened the score with Alex Johnston taking the second 6-0 and Courtney Mountifield winning 6-3. Not long after Alex and Courtney evened their matches up Brantner Jones won his second set 6-2 to give him a 6-3, 6-2 victory and Midd the ever elusive 5^th point. At #2 singles Palmer Campbell struggled to find his rhythm against an immensely talented Polar Bear while Alex and Courtney were both able to finish off their opponents making the final 7-2 in favor of Midd.

Lebo reminds Alex that three balls is in fact one too many. 

In the afternoon rubber the Panthers opted to due what few teams have the luxury of doing, playing all six of their seniors on senior day. At #1 doubles the senior duo of Alex Johnston and Andrew Lebovitz ran away with their match grabbing an 8-4 win and notching the first point for the Panthers. At #3 doubles senior James Burke and Chris Frost produced a solid win pulling away 8-5. At #2 doubles senior Brantner Jones and Palmer Campbell found themselves down 3-7, and then down a match point at 4-7 before somehow clawing their way back into the match and pushing it to a tiebreak. The Panther duo saved one more match point, couldn't capitalize on a match point of their own, and then finally lost 9-8(7) to give Midd a 2-1 lead going into doubles. Despite the loss (their first in Division III this year mind you) the resilience of the two was very impressive as they never went away even when they were in a deep hole and not playing particularly well.

B-jones rope a doping forehands. 

James Burke lines one up.

In singles the Panthers rolled out a senior heavy lineup with Alex Johnston at #1, Branther Jones at #3, Zach Bruchmiller at #4, Teddy Fitzgibbons at #5, and doubles specialist turned singles superstar Andrew Lebovitz at #6. It must've been Palmer Campbell's lucky day as was fortunate enough to take the courts with this group of wise sages at the #2 singles position. Teddy was first off, which is a solid indication that the Bonesaw's serrated blade is as sharp as ever, with a 6-0, 6-2 victory. Next off was Brantner who produced another solid singles performance winning 6-1, 6-3. Bringing home of the 5^th point and officially moving Middlebury's record to an impressive 15-2 on the season was Mr. Lebovitz with a 6-3, 6-0 W. Palmer grabbed the last point for the Panther's while Alex and Zach both fell to gritty Engineers to make the final 6-3 in favor of Midd.

Following the two wins the Panther family made a slow migration to 51 Main where the men's and women's teams celebrated the accomplishments and achievements of the seniors. It was an incredible event with Coach Hansen delivering some great speeches that revealed just a little bit more about our treasured leaders. Yet despite the celebration there was little time to bask in our glory as Tuesday we squared off against #26 Skidmore who was coming off a weekend victory over #5 Williams Ephs.

Senior dinner! Teddy, I'm not certain, but I believe that's the same sport coat Bob wore to his high school prom.

The last few matches the coaching staff has been impressed with the quality of play but we continue to ask for a complete effort from our boys. That is, we want everyone to play well, or at the very least compete well, on the same day. And on Tuesday we got that in spades. In doubles the Panther's dominated at every position winning 8-3 at #1, 8-4 at #2, and 8-4 at #3. Given the quality of the Skidmore teams that was no small feat as we hadn't really buried a team in doubles until Tuesday. In singles the effort was equally impressive as #2 through #6 singles all won in straight sets. The lone loss on the day occurred at #1 singles where Alex Johnston was facing the very talented Oliver Loutsenko. Despite the loss Alex played incredible tennis and beyond that his mindset was a thing of beauty. He competed hard all match and stayed positive when the going got tough. Beating Skidmore 8-1 was a wonderful way to wrap up this stretch of matches and a great result to prepare ourselves for this weekend's battles.

Bruchmiller in hot pursuit of a forehand.

Ah yes, this weekend's battles. On Saturday the panthers will face #2 Amherst in what may be the most anticipated Division III regular season matchup of the year. Both teams only have one Division III blemish on their records, Middlebury's to Emory and Amherst's to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, and both teams desperately want the win to lock up the #1 seed going into the NESCAC tournament. The #1 seed insures the winner a slightly more manageable route to the NESCAC championships as whoever comes out on top will likely avoid #5 Williams in the semifinals. After what we hope is a glorious Saturday the Panther's will hop in the vans for a drive down to Tufts University where we play our final regular season match on Sunday. Wish us luck and go Midd!

Bob doling out a 'thank you' the only way he knows how. 

-Coaches Hansen, Sabel, and McConnell