Panthers Ranked #1 in the Nation, #3-Seed in Deep NESCAC Tournament (18-3)

After a couple of very busy weekends with multiple matches, the Panthers only had one home match on Sunday last weekend against #8 nationally ranked Amherst. Even though we had been playing some incredibly good tennis going into the match, we knew it would be a battle against a very solid Amherst team. We won the match 7-2, and again felt that a major component of our success was setting the tone in doubles play.

Some Midd kids watching their teammates!
From left to right: '18 van der Geest, '19 Martin, '18 de Quant, '19 Farrell

'19 Cuba/ '18 Schlanger with a huge come from behind win!

At #2 and #3 doubles, some rock solid and efficient performances led to 8-2 victories by Noah Farell/Will de Quant and Peter Martin/Timo van der Geest. However, the #1 doubles match was an absolute battle. Demonstrating some impressive resilience, Kyle Schlanger/Lubomir Cuba came back from down match point to win 9-7. Both Schlanger and Cuba are beyond incredibly competitive, and when they got a glimpse of hope to get back in the match, they took it! Securing a 3-0 lead heading into singles was exactly what we wanted, but there was still a lot of work left to do.

'21 Gregory cheering on his teammates, what a stud!

In singles play, Noah Farrell, Kyle Schlanger, and Nate Eazor all earned straight set victories against some very talented players at #2, #4, and #5 singles. All three guys played some tough tennis and made sure it was not going to be easy to win any points against them. At #3 singles, one of our senior leaders, Will de Quant showed some impressive poise and composure after dropping the second set 6-2 to an opponent who started playing really well, by getting back to his winning ways and posting a 6-1 final score in the third set. Lubomir Cuba and Andre Xiao were not able to come away with a victory, but fought hard and both know that they will continue to be key contributors for us in our postseason matches moving forward. The coaching staff is particularly pleased to know that the Panthers can win at any spot in our lineup even against the toughest teams. We believe it is our depth of talent along with an impenetrable team culture that allows us to compete with the best of the best.

'21 Guo haning with fellow freshmen '21 Eazor

Delicious donuts (and bananas) to wash done a good Midd performance!

See the full match recaps here:

http://athletics.middlebury.edu/sports/mten/2017-18/releases/20180429ojplw7

NESCAC Tournament

Up next for the Panthers is the NESCAC tournament. Due to the calculations for determining seeding being based mainly on NESCAC play and then losing the tie-breakers to Bowdoin and Williams, we were given the #3 seed even though we are ranked #1 nationally. We feel that the NESCAC is the toughest and deepest tennis conference in DIII, so we understand the seeding process and look forward to the challenge! 

The schedule for the tournament is as follows:

5/4: Bates (1pm if outside, 430pm if indoors), and if we win…

5/5: Williams (1pm if outside, 430pm if indoors), and if we win

5/6: Winner of Bowdoin vs Amherst/Wesleyan (1pm)

As we prepare for the postseason, our guys are excited for crunch time. It is always a pleasure to know that we have poured our hearts into our training and to each match thus far, to prepare ourselves to be in the best position possible for the time of year that matters the most. We look to fully enjoy each and every match from here on out. Our main goal is not just to win matches, but to make sure no one out there is having more fun doing it!

'18 Schlanger giving everything he's got on every ball! 

Our full potential postseason schedule is listed below.

Date                Time               Opponent                               Location

5/4-5/6             TBD                NESCAC Tournament            Amherst, MA

5/11-5/13         TBD                NCAA Rounds 1-3                 TBD

5/21-5/23         TBD                NCAA Final Rounds              Claremont, CA

5/24-5/26         TBD                NCAA Individuals                  Claremont, CA

Game on! Go Midd!

The Middlebury Men’s Tennis Coach Staff