Dartmouth and Bates Weekend Wrapup

Senior Captains Alec Parower (left) and Will Oberrender

The Middlebury Men’s Tennis Team split up and hit the road this past weekend, competing in flighted events at both Dartmouth and Bates. Both events gave the Panthers a chance to compete against some great tennis programs in the New England area.

Middlebury sent seven players to New Hampshire for the annual Dartmouth Shootout. Other schools competing in the tournament were Williams, Stony Brook, and Army. All seven players for Midd notched at least one victory over the three day event. Highlighting the weekend’s action was the doubles play of Senior Spencer Lunghino and Junior Alex Johnston. The pair took home the “A” flight title, picking up wins against two of Dartmouth’s top doubles teams after a first round bye. For a complete look at the weekend’s results from Dartmouth, visit http://www.dartmouthsports.com//pdf8/952740.pdf.

With a few players abroad this semester, Middlebury had only four players to send to the Wallach Invitational at Bates College in Maine. The skeleton crew performed admirably. The sophomore duo of Peter Heidrich and Chris Frost advanced to the semifinals of the “A” doubles flight. The pair knocked off the number two doubles team from Bates before defeating the number two team from Bowdoin in the quarterfinals. Freshman Allen Jackson also made a deep run in the “B” singles flight. Jackson notched two impressive wins before falling to a tough player from Bowdoin in the semifinals. Freshman Jack Welch also got in on the fun, picking up a first round win before falling in the second round in the “D” flight. To check out all of the results from Bates, visit http://abacus.bates.edu/sports/mten/13/wallach12-onepage.pdf.

Fall ITA Tournament Results

Junior Alex Johnston lining up a backahnd

The men’s tennis team turned in several impressive results at the ITA Regional hosted by Williams over the weekend. Freshman Palmer Campbell advanced to the semifinals round of the 64-man tournament, before falling to Andrew Yaraghi of Amherst  6-3, 6-2. Campbell won four straight-set matches at the event, including a 7-6 (4), 6-1 win over Brandon Roode of Nichols in the quarterfinals.

Junior Alex Johnston also turned in a solid performance, advancing to the quarterfinal round with three wins before falling to Yaraghi, 7-6 (6), 6-7 (5), 6-1. Senior Alec Parower picked up a pair of straight-set wins before falling in the round of 16 to semifinalist and top seed Mark Kahan of Amherst, 6-4, 6-7 (8), 6-1.

In doubles play, Johnston and senior Spencer Lunghino earned a pair of 8-2 wins before falling to finalists Rob Crampton and Matt Bettles of Bates, 8-6 in the quarterfinals.

Across the board, the Middlebury Men showed marked improvement in their volley technique and doubles play. A focus point of practice in the first few weeks of fall practice, it seems as though the Panthers net game is definitely moving in the right direction. The on court training will continue to focus on doubles and net play while also looking at other aspects that will allow us to move towards our goal of being a championship team.

We would like to sincerely thank the Midd parents who came to Williams to support the Panthers. One of the many highlights of the weekend was seeing how well the team traveled together. Support from the teammates and parents during all of the matches this weekend was truly incredible.

Going forward, the team will split up this weekend for events at both Dartmouth and Bates. Both groups will compete in a singles and doubles flighted event. Please follow us on twitter and facebook for live updates this weekend and thanks again for all of your support.