Rising Through Conference Play: Enjoying the Battles

There is simply nothing like sharing a journey of a season as a part of Midd men’s tennis, through the ups, downs, and all the in between! We are sitting in the middle of a beautiful moment where we have had a many solid wins, some tough losses, and a consensus that the best is yet to come for this group! The daily excitement of figuring out how we can continue to grow in learn serves this group well, where we do not take ourselves too seriously and constantly aim to rise toward a future peak in our collective level! We provide this latest post to recap our past 6 matches and then highlight what is coming up next with only two more weekends of regular season play left!

Huddling!

Tufts (Midd ousted 6-1)

In our first match back from spring break, we headed into indoor play in an away match in Boston. Credit to Tufts for playing well, despite hard fought battles across the board they came away victorious in most spots. The Panthers did secure a solid win at #2 singles (Wu) in straight sets, and despite the result we reminded ourselves that facing tough tests on the road will allow us to rise and become stronger as a result. You can see the full box score here. 

Bates (Midd wins 6-1)

Bouncing right back after the Tufts match, we again had to play on a unique court surface on the road and we responded brilliantly! We secured solid victories at #1 (Laber/Wijemanne) and # 2 doubles (Epstein/Hentschel) to take the doubles point, and then immediately took that momentum into singles play where we found our way to 5 straight set victories! The full box score is here.

Panthers always sticking together!

Bowdoin (Midd ousted 3-4)

Again taking a bus up to Maine for another weekend of road NESCAC matches, we came out battling and playing better even if not finding our best just yet. We pushed Bowdoin to the brink of earning the doubles point with #1 doubles (Laber/Wijemanne) winning 7-5 and coming up just short in the other two slots. We did not back down however and again pushed Bowdoin to the brink securing wins at #1 (Laber), #3 (Epstein) and #5 (Wijemanne) singles, and lost two three-set fights as well. It was a fun match to be a part of despite coming out on the wrong side of the result, but took comfort in knowing that this match will build our collective motivation and force as we continue to seek our best collective tennis. The full box score can be seen here.

Colby (Midd wins 5-2)

On the road, NESCAC opponent, and unique tennis surface… nothing new! Colby played us tough and we fought incredibly well to earn a gritty 5-2 win that began with excellent doubles play sweeping all 3 slots including a 13-11 tiebreak win at #1 doubles (Laber/Wijemanne). #2 doubles (Epstein/Hentschel) and #3 doubles (Lewis/Larsen) did not take near as long fortunately! In singles play we earned a come from behind win at #1 singles (Laber) and excellent straight set victories at #2 (Wu), #3 (Epstein), and #5 (Hentschel)! The full box score can be seen here. 

With his singles and doubles wins over MIT,
Neel reached a career milestone of 150 combined singles/doubles wins.

Conn (Midd wins 7-0)

In this match, weather pushed us indoors in the morning and we came out firing on all cylinders and really showed the depth of our program as well. We swept doubles play including a 6-0 win by our freshmen at #3 doubles (Huet/Larsen). We carried momentum well throughout singles with both freshmen also earning straight set singles win along with our four non-freshmen singles players in this one! Full box score can be seen here.

MIT (Midd wins 4-3)

We knew coming into this match MIT was a particularly talented group that would test our skills. In what turned out to be our first match at our new outdoor facility, we came up big earning a hard-fought win. In doubles, we played some of our best tennis and won handily by scores of 6-2, 6-4 and 6-0 at #1 (Laber/Wijemanne), #2 (Epstein/Hentschel), and #3 (Larsen/Lewis) respectively. We knew that singles would nonetheless not come easily. At the bookends of the lineup, doubles partners Laber (#1 singles) won 6-1, 6-3 against a very strong opponent and Wijemanne (#6 singles) won 6-1, 6-1 to push us to one match away. Senior captain Neel Epstein (#3 singles) fully closed the door with a 7-6(1), 6-4 triumph to secure the win before MIT could get any closer. The full box score can be seen here.

Noah Laber stretching out for a backhand.

Two More NESCAC Regular Season Weekends

Next up on our journey is an away match versus Williams on Saturday, April 20th followed by home matches versus Wesleyan and Trinity (CT) in our final regular season matches. Our full schedule can be seen here. 

Go Midd!

The Panthers (6-3) Take A Couple Of Lumps on Spring Break But End The Trip On The Rise

It is often difficult to fully describe how the tradition of heading to the west coast for spring break for Middlebury Men’s tennis has become something that everyone in our program looks forward to and thrives in. Traveling together, sharing food from tacos to Sichuan cuisine, and taking on tough opponents in the sunshine after coming out of the colder weather in VT creates a special atmosphere for our team that allows us to identify who we are as a group, exposes things we need to work on, and provides us with rewarding memories and great triumphs as well. This year we took on five nationally ranked opponents in a one-week span and took some tough hits early in the trip, before rebounding with a couple of stellar performances to finish the trip stronger than we began results-wise. As a program, we often expect to win and expect to play well nearly every match. The fact is, in sports as competitive as college tennis, this is a fun yet challenging aspect of Middlebury Men’s Tennis rich tradition and one that we relish. This year we are already using our early stumbles to create more growth and development that will make us even stronger when it matters most as the season evolves!

The squad was all smiles after our match vs Grinnell!

 Babson (Midd lost 5-2)

Despite doing everything we could to prepare well for our first outdoor and first match on the road, we got punched in the mouth quickly. Babson came out firing at us from the start and after losing the doubles point, we lost all 6 first sets in singles. Nevertheless, our squad did not give up easily and we were able to claw our way back to two singles win at the #1 (Wu) and #2 (Laber) singles spots. Although it was not enough to secure a team win, our group came together, addressed ways we needed to be better, and began to ready ourselves for having to play the #1 ranked team in the nation next. The Babson box score can be seen here.

Noah locked in.

CMS (Midd lost 4-3)

In a gutsy performance by our team, we rebounded well to play improved tennis up and down our ladder just two days after our first defeat. While we could not quite push this match over the top for a team win, we pulled together and competed better to earn ourselves the feeling that we can go toe-to-toe with any team in the country. This match was highlighted by key victories at #1 doubles (Wijemanne/Laber) 6-3 and close losses 4-6 and 6-7 at #2 and #3 doubles. In singles play, we won at #2 singles (Laber) in straight sets and at #3 (Epstein) and #6 (Wijemanne) singles in awesome three set battles! The full box score vs CMS can be seen here.

Thehan focused and intense!

Pomona-Pitzer (Midd lost 5-2)

Still trying to find our winning ways, playing a young and talented Pomona team on their home courts would turn out to be no easy task. In trying to steady ourselves from the past two matches, we fired ourselves up well for doubles and won the doubles point via a 6-1 victory at #2 doubles (Epstein/Hentschel) and a gutsy 7-6 (7) victory at #1 doubles (Wijemanne/Laber)! Starting out matches with better doubles performances is going to be critical as we move forward in the year, and this was a great note to build on in this match. Unfortunately in singles play, Pomona came out firing and we were not quite at our best sharpness. We dropped a couple of hard fought three set battles at #4 (Lewis) and #5 (Hentschel) singles, as well as secured a straight set victory at #6 singles (Wijemanne). The full box score for our match against PP can be seen here.

#3 Doubles (Juju and Lewi) in action!

Grinnell (Midd won 7-0)

Bouncing back with a rock solid team performance up and down the lineup, we began to get our squad back on a winning track in this one. Excellent wins at #1 doubles (Wijemanne/Laber) and #2 doubles (Wu/Lewis) were a great way to kick things off followed by six straight set singles win! Two highlights included standout matches at #5 singles (Larsen) who beat a player he had faced in his junior tennis days and #6 singles (Kondamuri) who both executed their strategies well and demonstrated the depth of our squad. The full box score vs Grinnell can be seen here. 

Lewi keeping his eye on the ball!

Redlands (Midd won 6-1)

Most years, we have faced off against a tough and high-energy Redlands team on our spring break trips which always makes for an electric matchup. This day was no different. Looking to cap our trip off well, we were able to put together one of our best overall team performances of the year so far versus a dangerous Redlands squad on their home courts. We set the tone in doubles play with #3 doubles (Lewis/Wu) earned a 6-2 win, #2 doubles (Epstein/Hentschel) getting across the line next with a 6-4 win, and #1 doubles (Laber/Wijemanne) wrapping up a doubles sweep with a 7-5 victory. We knew that we had to keep pushing our momentum into singles play as there would be no easy matches, and we were able to do exactly that. We captured the match by earning convincing straight set wins at the top three singles positions (Laber, Wu, and Epstein) who all were able to hold their standard of play high from start to finish. At the #4 through #6 singles spots, all three went the distance into third set action! We were able to secure two of the three matchups, winning at #4 singles (Lewis) and #6 singles (Wijemanne) to highlight a resilient and strong effort to finish up our spring break play. Let’s go! The full box score for the Redlands match can be seen here.

Sweet photo of Neel going to work as our match shifted into a night match!

Upcoming Schedule

Our next five matches will feature NESCAC opponents, beginning with away matches at Tufts on Saturday at 2pm EST followed by heading to play at Bates on Sunday at 2pm EST. Let’s go Midd!

Hugh pumping it up!

Panther Alumni Match on April 26th

For any alumni that have not already received our emails, contact athomson@middlebury.edu for all the details.