Panthers 8-3 After Spring Break. Wesleyan, Conn, and Emory Up Next!

It was a fun and action-packed week of competing in Southern California. The Panthers had an absolute blast and want to first send a shout out to everyone who helped contribute to support our fundraising efforts to make this trip possible! An additional shoutout to both the Hilty and Morris families who provided an incredible array of snacks throughout the trip for each match! Thank you!

Morris '22 Ripping a forehand!

Match Highlights

We began our trip with a clutch 4-3 team win over Division II Biola. The Panthers claimed the doubles point via Martin/Farrell at #1 doubles and Eazor/Vanezis at #2 doubles. Despite losing three matches that went to three sets at the top three singles positions, wins by Vanezis, Vilys, and Hilty at #4 through #6 singles allowed the Panthers to come away victorious! Special shout out to Vilys, coming from way behind in the second set and then cruising to a 6-1 score in the third! Read full match details here.

Vilys' 22 Lining up a big serve!

The very next day we challenged ourselves with a doubleheader against Occidental and then George Fox (ranked #31 in the nation). Winning the matches by overall scores of 8-1 and then 7-2 respectively, we continued our winning ways. The Panthers got off to a hot start in both matches with Eazor, Farrell, Martin, Samets, and Xiao each contributing to two doubles wins and Cuba and Vanezis, who both paired with Eazor in one of the two matches that day, contributing to one doubles win as well. The evidence continued to build that the Panthers can be a force on the doubles court! In singles, Guo, Vanezis, Vilys, Sutton, and Hilty all put a point on the board for the Panthers versus Occidental. In the afternoon match against George Fox, Morris, Xiao, Eazor, and Guo also notched key victories. The recap for the Occidental and George Fox matches can be seen here.

For perhaps our toughest test of the trip, the Panthers geared up to square off with Div. I’s UC Irvine. Despite the 1-6 team score and first loss of the season for the Panthers, we demonstrated that we have the capacity to compete with the very best tennis players in the country regardless of Division. In the loss of the doubles point, we did win at #2 doubles 6-4 with Farrell and Martin showing incredible resilience in a hard-fought match win. Showing similar grit and determination, Guo came away with a decisive straight set win at #5 singles after being way down in the first set. Apparently, DI did not know what hit them when they got their first taste of the #GuoExperience. Farrell, Xiao, and Vanezis also battled hard and each lost in very competitive three set matches. With each day outside, the Panthers seemed to be picking up stream. A full recap of our UC Irvine match can be seen here.

Martin '19 and Farrell '19 are one of the
greatest combinations since peanut butter and jelly!

Given another crack at an extremely difficult opponent, we found ourselves battling to an incredibly closely contested 3-4 loss to DII Azusa Pacific. After a slow start at all three doubles positions, the Panthers demonstrated incredible heart with a 7-6 win at #1 doubles after being down 0-5 and also winning 7-6 at #2 doubles after being down 1-4! It is never wise to count us out if there is tennis left to be played! In singles, Xiao and Eazor each posted victories in singles. Unfortunately, Azusa played well at both #3 and #5 singles winning in straight sets and then just barely inched past us at #1 and #2 singles with wins 7-5 and 6-4 in the third respectively. The full match recap versus Azusa Pacific can be seen here.

After a needed day of rest, or at least a little bit of rest and a little bit of practice, the Panthers demonstrated the level of play they can achieve as a group. We earned a hard fought 8-1 decision over Pomona (ranked #13 nationally). We started off with a decisive 8-1 win by Samets/Xiao at #3 doubles, and continued to roll with an 8-7 win by Eazor/Cuba at #1 doubles and an 8-5 win by Farrell/Martin at #2 doubles to complete the full doubles sweep. Eazor/Cuba seem to have a pretty good knack for winning tiebreakers this year! After that, the Panthers never looked back with Farrell earning an incredible straight set win at #1 singles, followed by Xiao, Guo, Eazor and Vanezis who also all posted singles wins for the Panthers. Again, the full match recap for Pomona can be seen here.

Vanezis '20 continues to impress and improve by the day!

In our final match of the trip, we took a tough loss to a very good CMS team on their home courts by a decision of 7-2. Even though the level of our play was not what we had hoped, taking on a difficult opponent always provides us with the gift of needed feedback for what we need to work on if we want to be able to compete for a national title at the end of the season. Within the loss, we still had some fun highlights of Cuba/Eazor winning yet another 8-7 doubles tiebreaker and then Xiao posting an impressive straight set victory over a very skilled opponent. We certainly hope that we play well enough to give us another chance to compete against CMS later in the year at the NCAA tournament. The full match recap can be seen here.

Other Fun Trip Highlights

Even though not posted in the official box scores, the Panthers played extremely well in all of our exhibition match play. Shout out to team Brach/Vilys, and singles players Vilys and Hilty who competed and won in the most exhibitions of anyone on our Panther squad. These are critical opportunities to compete that help our group get better!

Another annual SoCal team event has been enjoying a BBQ feast at Bryan Shapiro’s (a former UC Santa Cruz player for Coach Hansen) who cooked up a yet another incredible meal for the hungry Panther men. Rounding out our eating adventures, we also explored some of the best tacos in the country at the Taco Man (near Claremont) and Guisados (near LA). 

When in SoCal, we can eat quite a few tacos!

The Panthers look to stay hungry as we have three really fun matches coming up this weekend at home against stiff competition. As a reminder, it is Alumni Weekend (please let us know if you will be joining us and have not already RSVPed) while the Panthers take on Wesleyan on Saturday and then Connecticut College and Emory on Sunday. We can’t wait!

As always, thanks so much for your support and for following along!

   

Go Midd!

The Middlebury Men’s Tennis Coach Staff