The Panthers delivered two solid wins against two ranked
opponents in Brandeis and RPI last weekend. Overall, it was clear that doubles
play has been a source of strength for the squad early, going 6-0 over the
weekend in the lineup matches and staying undefeated in exhibition play as
well. With veteran Noah Farrell being converted to a “player-coach” for the
weekend, it allowed our team to showcase our depth even against tough
competition.
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| Panther Teammates Farrell '19, Sutton '19, and Gregory '21 enjoying our early Spring matches in Nelson Arena! |
Match Highlights
In our match against Brandeis, we were in absolute battles
on every doubles court. Number one doubles got the first point on the board
with Cuba/Eazor earning an 8-6 win against a top team, followed by Samets/Xiao
who pinned the next point for the Panthers hanging on for a tiebreak win 8-7(3). A fun fact for this year, tiebreakers in doubles
are now being played at 7-all instead of 8-all per ITA rules designed to help team
matches to be played more efficiently. In the last doubles match on,
Martin/Vanezis put on quite a show coming back from 7-4 down to win 8-7(5).
Both Vanezis and Martin demonstrated that the work we have been putting in toward crafting our skills around the net will pay dividends during crunch time!
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| Martin '19 stretches out to track a forehand return in two-back formation with Vanezis '20 preparing to use his speedy ways to track down the next ball. |
Even with a 3-0 team lead, we still had our work cut out for us in
singles against a very deep Brandeis team that was ranked #10 in the nation. Fortunately,
Cuba, Guo, and Vanezis all posted straight set wins to secure the match for us.
With a 6-3 team win, we gained confidence but also had the opportunity to
consider all of the areas where we need to continue to put in work if we want
to accomplish our ultimate aims for this season.
On Sunday, we laced up again versus RPI, who had just lost a 6-3 decision to Brandeis two days before our matchup. Knowing they would be
excited to challenge us, the Panthers came ready to hit back and played some
incredible tennis on the way to a 9-0 team win! The Panthers did not drop a
single set. Both Stan Morris and Andre Xiao played some high-level ball,
bouncing right back after losing their singles matches versus Brandeis the day
before. Resilience has always been a trademark of our program and fun to see
that exemplified by our young players. Special shutout to Peter Martin,
typically a doubles specialist for us, who got in some singles action winning
6-0, 6-2 to the delight of his teammates and the home Panther crowd!
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| Becoming known as the Bash Brothers, Morris '22 and Guo '21 know how to hit big when they want to! |
We again enjoyed amazing snacks and drinks last weekend supplied
by our Middlebury families. Shout out to Weston and Adam’s families for
spoiling our team yet again!
Full Match Recaps:
A complete description of each match can be seen at the
following links:
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| Playing with joy is a big part of our happy Panther culture! |
Middlebury Tennis
Team Online Store (don’t forget to order by March 26th): https://www.bsnteamsports.com/v3/shop/team_shop/VbuK5YwrtY#/
As a reminder, click the above link to be directed to the
online store we have created for you to be able to order athletic apparel that
is printed with the Middlebury Tennis Team logos! You can order directly
to your home and we hope you enjoy the products we have selected. Let us know
if you have any questions or comments for us.
Next Up: Spring Break
2019
We depart tomorrow for our spring break trip to Southern California! We
have some great DIII matches lined up including battles in Claremont versus Pomona-Pitzer
and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. In addition, we will play against top tier DI and DII
programs in UC Irvine and Azusa Pacific. We are looking forward to the
challenge of an action-packed week!
See our webpage for all match schedule details (times
are listed in EST): https://athletics.middlebury.edu/sports/mten/2018-19/schedule
Go
Midd!
