Stellar End to Fall 2022 Season

Your Panthers wrapped up the Fall season in a big way posting a lot of impressive results across our final two fall tournaments. We recap those results below, but first begin by expressing our sincerest gratitude.

Zihao going all out on this backhand volley! He and the Panthers have had a wonderful fall season.

Thank You for Your Support in Our Panther Challenge

There is no other way to properly begin this blog post than to thank so many who supported us during our Proud to Be a Panther Challenge fundraiser. We had wonderful participation and all contributions will go directly toward supporting our student-athletes tennis experience. There are so many variables that contribute to making a four-year college tennis career special, and we would not be the program we are today without the DNA of our Middlebury Tennis traditions from the players and coaches who came before us, as well as the ongoing support we are so lucky to receive from alumni, family, and friends! From donations, to bringing snacks and lunches at tournaments, off-court mentorship, and more we are beyond fortunate for all that is done to support us! Huge shout out to everyone in our Midd Tennis Family!

Our program relies on teamwork all on levels both on and off the court!

Wesleyan Invitational

The Panthers continued their rise through the fall and came out swinging across the board at the Wesleyan Invitational. There were two draws of 24 players, A and B flights, filled with talented players from four other strong DIII programs and one DI program. Taking matches one step at a time, the Panthers imposed their will on the tournament. We began the tournament flawlessly going 3-0 in the round of 32 (with 3 byes for our other competitors) and then finished with a punctuation mark of winning both the A and B singles flights.

Nathan Jackson served up some special tennis
en route to winning the B Flight Singles Draw

Major highlights included: 

• Robby Ward won two main draw matches in the A singles draw making his run to the quarterfinals, and then added a back draw win on Sunday. 
• Zihao Yuan winning three main draw matches in the A singles draw, including taking out the #1 seed on his run to the semifinal.
• B Flight champion, Nathan Jackson winning 5 straight singles matches to capture the B flight crown finding his way through a competitive draw.
• A Flight champion, Julian Wu winning 4 straight singles matches to capture the A flight crown, earning several stellar victories of top opponents including besting the #2 seed.
• A full recap of results can be found here.

Dartmouth Invitational

The Panthers ended our fall season on an impressively high note with some stellar results at the Dartmouth Invitational. The tournament consisted of players from two DIII teams (Middlebury and Williams) and four DI programs (Brown, Dartmouth, Boston University, and Yale). The level of competition was very strong, but the Panthers came in determined and ready to demonstrate the prowess of DIII tennis. Matchplay consisted of compass draw style play where each of our players competed in three singles and three doubles matches across the weekend. Aggregating results for the five players we had competing, we went 11-4 in singles play and 4-3 in doubles play. 

Julian Wu has been a force this fall going 7-0 in his last 7 singles matches.

Highlights included:

• Julian Wu won all 3 of his singles matches (vs Williams, BU, and Dartmouth).
• Robby Ward won all 3 of his singles matches (vs Williams, BU, and Williams).
• Neel Epstein winning 3 straight singles matches (vs Williams, Dartmouth, and Yale).
• Zihao Yuan posted an impressive three-set victory in singles vs BU.
• Nathan Jackson posted an impressive three-set victory in singles vs Williams.
• Yuan/Wu posted a 2-1 winning record in doubles including a win over a top Williams pair.
• Ward/Epstein posted an impressive doubles win over Brown University.
• Full recap of results can be seen here.

Neel Epstein, one of three of our Panthers who captured victory
in all 3 of his singles matches over the Dartmouth Invite!

Upcoming Schedule

Please stay tuned for our finalized spring dual match schedule as well as our senior and alumni weekend! 

Go Midd!

Midd Invite/ITA Recap and the Proud to Be A Panther Challenge 2022

It is always hard to believe how quickly we move through our fall tennis season. As the saying goes, time flies when you are having fun... and we certainly squeeze every ounce of joy out of fall! The Vermont leaves are coloring up, and it is a beautiful time of year for us to train and compete! Our young and hungry group has demonstrated week-by-week improvement, and we love the feeling of getting better and seeing where our hard work can take us. In the end, challenging ourselves and not setting limits is exactly what we are after as a program.

In this issue of our blog we:

1. Recap our first two fall tournaments.
2. Highlight the Proud to Be A Panther Fundraising Challenge
3. List our remaining Fall Schedule (2 more tournaments)

Middlebury Invitational 2022

Julian Wu locked in and ready to fire a forehand!

The Middlebury Invite has become a longstanding tradition at the beginning of our fall season and is a great way to test ourselves and learn about where we are and what we need the most work on. This year was no different. We brought in some of the best teams in DIII tennis with multiple All-American players and top programs traveling to Middlebury for an action-packed weekend. Highlights included a brilliant semifinal run by freshman upstart Julian Wu and all players earning at least one win in singles or doubles through the weekend, a great indication of our depth as a program. We also recognized that we ended up on the wrong end of some tightly contested matches, which gave us the immediate feedback we needed to attack our training with more intention and vigor. A full recap can be found by clicking here. 

ITA New England Regional

Robby Ward and Neel Epstein charging forward!

After the Middlebury Invitational, the Panthers were motivated to make more runs in the singles and doubles draw as a team at one of the most competitive regional tournaments in the nation. We traveled up to Brunswick, ME to compete and demonstrated some very impressive progress. There were numerous highlights that are worth noting. All three of our doubles pairings at least won first round matches. Andrew Mueller and Nathan Jackson earned a spot in the Round of 32 before falling to the eventual champions. Julian Wu and Zihao Yuan won three straight doubles matches including a win over a team they had lost to a week earlier before bowing out in the quarterfinal round. Finally, Robby Ward and Neel Epstein ripped their way to the semifinals with multiple impressive wins before losing a very hard-fought match that was one round before qualifying for the national ITA Oracle Cup. While always disappointing not to have punched all the way through, all of our doubles teams played a more attacking style and demonstrated a jump in level from just a week earlier!

Neel using his height to crack a big serve!

In singles play, freshmen Nathan Jackson pushed a seeded player to the brink losing in three sets. Andrew Mueller avenged a loss to an opponent from the week before (somewhat of a theme at the ITA for us!). Robby Ward won an impressive first round match over a tough opponent before losing a war of a match in the Round of 32. Zihao Yuan also posted a first round win before losing to a seeded opponent in the Round of 32. Making his run in doubles to the semifinals even more impressive, Neel Epstein also battled in singles and demonstrated he is going to be a force to be reckoned with this year. He won three straight matches, all over worthy and challenging opponents, to make an impressive quarterfinal run. As a team, it was great to see progress and the best part of our successes is that it allowed our group to get more matches and competition. We look forward to continuing to take every opportunity to challenge ourselves and to keep at it. After all, we will need to push even further if we want to take a full swing at achieving our biggest goals on the national stages.

A full recap can be found by clicking here. 

Proud to Be a Panther Challenge

We would like to invite you to participate in the Proud to Be A Panther Challenge. The Challenge runs from October 12-20 and we would love your support! 

Our goal for Middlebury Men’s Tennis is to raise about $50,000 this year. We have been humbled by past generosity that has allowed us to provide the best possible training and competitive environments, maximizing the 4-year student-athlete experience. Specifically, donations are used toward expenses including: 

• Spring break travel (i.e., flights, hotels, rentals).
• Equipment expenses.
• Live streaming on all 4 indoor courts and 6 outdoor courts for all home matches.
• National event travel.
• Experts: Bringing in guest coaches or sports psychologists to supplement our training

To make your gift, please visit our Proud to Be A Panther Challenge homepage. You can designate your gift to “Varsity Sports: Tennis Program - Men’s” and gifts of any size are hugely appreciated.

Thank you for your support of the Middlebury Men’s Tennis program and our student athletes. With your help, we’ll continue to fuel their success in the classroom, on the court, and in the community.

Upcoming Fall Schedule

We travel to Wesleyan and then Dartmouth on back-to-back weekends to wrap up our fall journey!

• Oct 15-16: Wesleyan Invitational in Middletown, CT
• Oct 21-23: Dartmouth Invitational in Hanover, NH

Andrew Mueller battling on our home courts!

Go Midd!

 

Fall Season 2022: Panthers Are Back in the House!

It’s go time! Our Panthers have been back to work on campus for a couple of weeks and we have two upcoming tournaments. This weekend we will host six other schools to compete in the Middlebury Invitational 2022 starting on Saturday. The very next week we will head to Maine to compete in our New England Regional Fall ITA Championships!

Captain Robby Ward enjoying some time in the spotlight!

Expectations and Goals for the Year

The Panthers return a balanced squad that has a great blend of experience, youth, hunger, and of course passion for the game and getting better at this sport we love! In the offseason, us coaches sometimes get asked, how good will your team be this year? The honest answer is we do not know how good we can become until we start putting in the work, and we plan on doing just that! We plan find out what the best version of our team can be this year, to ingrain grittiness into our team DNA, and to build a team culture that brings out the best in each other. We always set our sights on competing for a national championship and we will commit to pursuing our process goals relentlessly to give us the very best shot at achieving our biggest dreams. 

New Members

We have four new team members that we want to welcome to our family that include our three freshmen Hugh Henschel, Nathan Jackson, and Julian Wu. We can tell right away that these three will not only be good friends amongst each other but will also easily blend right into our team. They are bright, passionate about getting better, and bring an enthusiasm to what we do each day that is contagious! We will do more individual spotlights on these guys later in the fall so everyone can learn more about them.

Two of our three freshmen on picture day!
(Nathan Jackson and Julian Wu)

We also are welcoming our new assistant coach Tristan Kaye, who has already brought a lot to our Panther squad. Feels like he has been here for years already as he is fully dialed in! As a coaching staff, we are thrilled to take on our high ambitions with this group to see how good we can get and how much fun we can have in the process!

Captains and Study Abroad Crew

Aidan Harris, Andrew Mueller, and Robby Ward are our three Panther. captains this year. We have known since the moment they set foot on campus as freshmen they would be great leaders and we expect them to continue lead as well as they already have been now that they are captains in name to! They will also lead the charge of integrating our new team members into the fold.

Four of our Panther beasts are studying abroad, of course together, in London this fall semester (Max Kim, Aidan Harris, Noah Laber, and Joe Mairs). We wish them an awesome trip and love that they will be able to train together and stay in shape while they are there. We will miss them but know they will bring another layer of travels, experience, and perspective to our group upon their return in the Spring!

2022 Fall Schedule 

Our fall tournament schedule includes hosting one event and traveling to three others. We will take on some of the fiercest competition in DIII as well as some DI opponents at the Dartmouth Invitational.  

Middlebury Athletics Season Preview

Check out even more details about our upcoming season by clicking here to see our season preview from Middlebury Athletics.

Go Midd!

The Middlebury Men’s Tennis Coaching Staff

End of 2022 Season Wrap-Up: NESCAC Champions, NCAA Final Four Team, and Individual NCAA Singles Title

We are incredibly proud of the fact that year in and year out we set ambitious goals, including our ultimate aim of competing for an NCAA team title. This year our goals were particularly ambitious given that we started the year as an unranked team, having had the last two spring seasons derailed due to the pandemic. Even though we did not win the NCAA team championship, the coaching staff knows that our team put in the effort, hard work, and passion that championship caliber teams do. We positioned ourselves to take a swing at the team title, and in doing so achieved many impressive feats during the year along the way! 

Accomplishments

• Top 4 national year-end ranking (still waiting on the official release to see if we will be listed at #3 or #4)
• 20 straight DIII team matches wins
• 6 wins over opponents ranked in the top 10!
• 2022 NESCAC Team Champions
• 2022 NCAA Final Four Team
• All-American Singles Player Stan Morris 
• All-American Doubles Team Aidan Harris/Noah Laber
• All-American Doubles Team Stan Morris/David Vilys 
• 2 Individual Singles National Titles for Stan Morris (Fall ITA Cup and NCAA Spring)
• Hazeltine-Klevenow Memorial Trophy: Stan Morris (awarded to senior male athlete at Middlebury who best combines athletic and academic achievement)

We want to thank all our players for their incredible efforts and passion, as we felt incredibly fortunate to be able to coach this wonderful group of young men. It was a season that our seniors should be particularly proud of, and we look forward to taking our momentum into next year!

Aidan Harris ready to rumble playing doubles alongside Noah Laber at #2 doubles at NCAAs

NCAA Team Run

Coming in hot off a NESCAC team championship, the Panthers were again poised for another exciting NCAA team run! We were fortunate to be able to host the regional rounds at the Proctor courts in Middlebury and then traveled to Orlando, Florida to compete at the prestigious USTA National Campus courts from the elite eight onwards! We could not have enjoyed the intense competition and opportunity to display how much our collective tennis games had come since the beginning of the year.

Stevens Round of 32 Match Highlights (Midd wins 5-0)

• Kicking off the tournament with a doubles sweep
• Noah Laber and Zach Hilty finished their singles matches in straight sets to clinch the match.
• Box Score

RPI Round of 16 Match Highlights (Midd wins 5-2)

• Earned a hard fought 2-1 lead after doubles with #2 doubles (Hairrs/Laber) posting the first point followed by a clutch tiebreak win by #1 doubles (Morris/Vilys)
• Digging in against a deep and tenacious RPI group, the Panthers kept pressure on across all courts
• Harris (#3 singles), Epstein (#5 singles), and Yuan (#6 singles) each posted straight set wins to secure our place in the Elite Eight!
• Box Score 

Wash U Elite Eight Match Highlights (Midd wins 5-2)

• The Panthers set the tone with a doubles sweep, demonstrating one of our growing strengths! #2 doubles (Harris/Laber) and #3 doubles (Epstein/Hilty) won by 8-5 and 8-4 scores with #1 doubles (Morris/Vilys) earning another clutch 10-8 tiebreak win
• Keeping the pressure on in singles, Wash U forced us to fight across the board. Both Aidan Harris (#3 singles) and Stan Morris (#1 singles) won in straight sets to push the Panthers one step further!
• Box Score

Zach Hilty (pictured above) partnered with Neel Esptein to be a dominant force at #3 doubles all year long!

Case Western Final Four Match Highlights (Case wins 5-1)

• At one point in the match, the Panthers broke back to be on serve at #1 doubles and were up a break at both #2 and #3 doubles, but it Case fought back and we ended up securing our only point in the match at #3 doubles (Hilty/Epstein) by a score of 8-4. 
• #2 doubles dropped a tough tiebreaker, giving Case momentum heading into singles.
• We dug our heels in and continued to fight through the last ball, but in the end Case was the better team on this day.
• Box Score 

NCAA Individuals Run

• David Vilys and Stan Morris lost a tough 2 set battle in the first round of the doubles draw.
• With no easy matches in an incredibly deep and talented 32-player draw Stan won three of his five matches in 3 sets including two come-from-behind wins!
• Stan beat 2 players that he had lost to earlier in the year.
• Stan is the first player in program history to have won both individual national singles titles (Fall ITA Cup and the Spring NCAA Championship).
• Recap of Stan’s NCAA Title Run 

Stan with his national title trophy!

End of Year Appreciation!

As this will be our final blog post of the year, the coaching staff wants to extend our gratitude toward so many key individuals that help our program to operate optimally! We want to begin by thanking our incredible Middlebury College Athletic support staff, in particular Erin Quinn (Athletic Director), Beth Fitzgerald (Team Athletic Trainer), Ali Paquette (Director of Athletic Communication), Rob Barr (Women’s Tennis Head Coach), and Hannah Fleckenstein (Women’s Tennis Assistant Coach). Each of you helps to make our team better and our job as coaches much more fun! We also want to express our thanks to all the Middlebury Tennis Nation. It is a true pleasure for us to receive so many messages and support from our alumni, family, and friends.

Love this team!

We would be remiss if we did not thank our incredible group of team parents! It is amazing to see how much love and support you bring to our program, and we take pride in sharing our team’s accomplishments with you. Thanks again for all you do to support our group!

Finally, thank you Bob Hansen for all you have given to Middlebury Tennis and congrats again on your retirement! We plan to have another celebration of Bob’s unparallel career in the coming year!

Bob at NCAAs pictured alongside player/coach Andrew Mueller!

Thanks again for your support and for sharing in our journey this season! 

Sincerely,

The Middlebury Men’s Tennis Coaching Staff

The Panthers (18-2) Love the Postseason!

As we wrapped up our regular season, the Panthers continued to demonstrate or competitive fire and grit earning multiple wins over challenging conference opponents. Feeling that our group excels at bringing our best tennis in the biggest moments, we were excited to see what we could do in the NESCAC tournament having fought to earn the #1 seed as a team. Despite challenging conditions and worthy opponents, the Panthers collectively dug in and we came out victorious to earn our 10th NESCAC team title in Middlebury Men’s Tennis history (2nd in a row)! The coaching staff could not be prouder of our group after 17 straight d3 wins and we are pumped up to keep rising as a team heading into NCAAs. As we like to say loud and clear, THE PANTHERS LOVE THE POSTSEASON!

2022 NESCAC Champs!

Highlights from Colby and Bowdoin Weekend

In our final home matches of the year, the Panthers competed well in challenging outdoor conditions at our favorite Proctor courts! Colby was ranked #27 in the nation, and we knew would be fired up to challenge us. After taking a 2-1 doubles lead in some very close matches, the Panthers shined in singles play earning a sweep of all 6 singles positions! This included five straight set wins and some locked in tennis from up and down our lineup! More details of the match can be found here. 

The next day we took on #9 Bowdoin and knew we would be in for a fight. After dropping prosets at #1 and #3 doubles, #2 doubles came in clutch to post an 8-6 win to keep the Panthers in striking range heading into singles play. When the going got tough in this match, our grittiness and belief came through to help us regain the momentum. We got started with #6 singles Zihao Yuan earning a decisive 6-0, 6-3 win and then earned wins in 3 of the of 4 three-set match that were played including Stan Morris (#1 singles), Aidan Harris (#3 singles), and Neel Epstein (#5 singles)! Even though we felt like we did not necessarily play our very best at each spot, we knew earning a hard-fought win in a tightly contested matchup would help our confidence in knowing we continue to be battle tested and ready to adapt and keep competing no matter the situation. More details of the match can be found here.

Highlights from NESCAC Tournament Weekend

Stan Morris fired up during our NESCAC Championship run!

As a team, our doubles play has been on the rise throughout the course of our regular season and we were determined to set the tone for our matches by taking it to our opponents in doubles. We did exactly that throughout the weekend going 8-1 in doubles play, sweeping the doubles in the quarterfinals (vs Trinity), semifinals (vs Amherst), and then taking two of three in the finals (vs Tufts)! 

In the quarterfinal round, Trinity battled us from start to finish but the Panthers kept up the pressure from all spots in the lineup. Zach Hilty (#4 singles) nudged our lead to 4-0 with a straight set win followed by a straight set clinch from Neel Epstein (#5 singles). See more match details here. 

In the semifinal round, Amherst was coming off a strong victory over Bowdoin and we knew we needed to come out ready. After a doubles sweep, the match was played on only 3 indoors courts so we knew it might be extra challenging to build on our momentum to earn the next two points to earn the team victory. With incredible poise from our freshman, Neel Epstein (#5 singles) earned an impressive 6-1, 6-0 decision to quickly push the score to 4-0. Both Aidan Harris (#3 singles) and Zihao Yuan (#6 singles) were competing and staying tough throughout very high level matches and each was deep into a third set when the match got clinched. It was none other than one of our senior captains, Stan Morris (#1 singles) who was able to find the clinch for the team with a straight set victory over a strong opponent at the top spot. See more match details here.

In the finals, we were thrilled to get another swing to take on Tufts who represented our only d3 loss of the year in our first match of the season all the way back on March 12th. Tufts was ranked #3 in the nation and we were fired up to see what we could do in our biggest moment of the year so far. The match was incredibly well-played on both sides and was an exciting tilt from start to finish. After Tufts took #2 doubles, the Panthers took charge via an 8-6 come from behind win at #1 doubles (Morris/Vilys) followed by an 8-5 victory at # 3 doubles (Hilty/Epstein). In singles, the Panthers took 4 of 6 first sets and were keeping the pressure on with good fight from all spots throughout our lineup. First to earn a victory for us was Stan Morris (#1 singles) who fought back from a first set deficit to win 7-5, 6-1 to put the Panthers two matches away from the tile. Next to finish was Zihao Yuan (#6 singles) whose steady and relentless play earned a 6-4, 6-4 win getting the Panthers to within 1 match of the title. Epstein (#5 singles) was early in third set play when senior captain Zach Hilty (#4 singles) used brilliant and ferocious tennis to secure a 6-4, 6-3 win clinching the NESCAC title for the Panther squad! WE DO LOVE THE POSTSEASON! See more match details here and some photos of our group with trophy below.

NCAA Bracket and Upcoming Schedule

These are the NCAA regional round matchups that we will be hosting in Middlebury!

- Our first match of the NCAA tournament will be played on Friday, May 13th at 10am EST. 

- Our NCAA regional final will be played on Saturday, May 14th at Noon EST to see who earns a spot in the Elite Eight and to travel to the NCAA Championship site at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida.

- The NCAA Final Rounds will be played from May 23-25th.

Thanks for the wonderful support from our alumni, friends, and family! Our successes would not be possible without it!

Go Midd!

The Middlebury Men’s Tennis Coaching Staff

Panthers (13-2) Continue to Roll

The Panthers have pushed their d3 win streak to 13 consecutive matches including beating two nationally ranked teams and three conference teams over the past two weekends. With only one more regular season weekend. The tone for our recent success has often been paved by our doubles play. We have won 15 consecutive doubles matches and 20 of our last 21 doubles matches! Our singles play has also been stellar and continues to rise in the face of great competition. The identity of this Panther squad is to be both gritty and resilient, and hungry to always improve throughout the year!

Captain David Vilys unloading on a big serve in Nelson!

Highlights from Williams Weekend 

Against conference rival Williams (ranked #7 nationally), the Panthers put together one of best doubles performances of the year in front of a large group of our alumni who cam to watch our match. We came out with aggressive Middlebury-style doubles and played some brave and exciting tennis. Morris/Vilys won 8-6 at the top spot defeating the then top ranked team in the region, while #2 (Laber/Harris) and #3 (Epstein/Hilty) both won by decisive 8-4 results. In singles play, we built on our momentum and won four out of six spots. The Panthers earned hard fought victories, all in straight, sets at #1 singles (Morris), #2 singles (Harris), #3 singles (Laber), and #6 singles (Yuan) to secure a 7-2 overall match score. Full details and results can be seen by clicking here.  

Captain Stan Morris has been balling!

Highlights from Skidmore, Trinity (CT), and Conn Weekend

With an action-packed weekend of tennis of three matches across two days, the Panthers again rose to the occasion. The first match of the weekend was against Skidmore (nationally ranked # ??) was an exciting competition and our first outdoor match since spring break. The doubles was tightly contested across the board, but we came out on top at each flight. Morris/Villys continued their winning ways earning an 8-4 win, while both #2 (Laber/Harris) and #3 (Epstein/Hilty) pushing their matches across 8-7 in tiebreakers. The singles play was also impressive on both sides, with the panthers winning two straight set matches including Morris at #1 singles and Hilty at #5 singles. Earning victories in three sets included Harris at #2 singles, Laber at #3 singles, and Yuan at #6 singles.  Full match details can be found by clicking here. 

In our two conference victories against Trinity (CT) and Conn College, the Panthers continued our doubles hot steak with our mainstay lineup winning at all six slots. In singles play, we took 11 out of 12 wins including wins from all 11 members of our Panther squad in either lineup or exhibition play! Our depth and tenacity no matter the circumstance were on full display!

See full match details for Skidmore, Trinity (CT), and Conn College.

Aidan Harris always staying on balance after ripping a serve!

Upcoming Home Match Schedule 

Saturday, April 30th at 10am vs Colby

Saturday, April 30th 5-7pm Senior Celebration

Sunday, May 1st 10am vs Bowdoin

As always, the links for live steaming and live scoring are on our middlebury.edu schedule/results page. Thanks for following along and for being a part of our Midd Tennis Family! Go Midd!

The Middlebury Men’s Tennis Coaching Staff

Panthers (9-2) Building Momentum During Conference Play

During the past two weeks post spring break, the Panthers have continued to demonstrate strong efforts and earned three key wins over conference opponents and all of them coming on the road! As a group, we are finding our identity as a team more and more. We are gritty and resilient, and have proven we that can attack from all parts of our lineup. As we get deeper and deeper into our spring season, we continue to make consistent and incremental improvements in our doubles and singles play. Staying hungry to to see how good we can become will be key to giving us the best chance at achieving our biggest aspirations. 

Andrew Mueller pumped up! He sets the tone for passion in our group!

Highlights from Wesleyan Match (Midd wins 8-1)

Transitioning back to the northeast from our trip in SoCal, we sought to build on our momentum as a team. We came out firing in doubles play against Wesleyan and were able to sweep all three doubles positions. We took charge by playing a solid mix of smart and aggressive tennis. Laber/Harris and Epstein/Hilty both won decisive 8-2 victories at the #2 and #3 doubles positions, and then Morris/Vilys came in clutch for an 8-6 win at the #1 doubles position to complete the sweep. In singles, play we did not look back! Yuan (#5 singles) and Mairs (#6 singles) each won in straight sets. After dropping their first sets, both Morris (#1 singles) and Harris (#2 singles) battled back and won compelling matches over strong opponents. Epstein (#4 singles) secured another point for the Panthers via a match tiebreaker in lieu of a third set. Click here for more details about the match results.

No better group to huddle up with!

Highlights from Amherst Match (Midd wins 6-3)

Playing an away match against Amherst provided another tough test for our Panthers. Knowing that in close matches doubles often sets the tone, the Panthers again dug in and demonstrated our continued rise on the doubles side of the ball. We came away with two hard fought victories with Morris/Vilys (#1 doubles) securing another 8-6 win and Epstein/Hilty (#3 doubles) winning 8-5 to provide us a crucial lead heading into singles play. With some impressive tennis at the top slot, Morris (#1 singles) posted a straight set win to push our team lead to 3-1. Amherst battled back and briefly tied the match at 3-3, but then the Panthers hit their stride and ran towards winning the final three singles matches. Yuan (#6 singles) won 6-2, 2-6, 6-4. To clinch the win, Laber (#3 singles) went out in the second wave of matches and won a 6-2, 6-1 match. In the final win of the day, Hilty (#5 singles) also won a straight set victory in the second wave 6-1, 7-5. For a full breakdown of the match, click here.

Highlights from Hamilton Match (Midd wins 9-0)

In our third conference match after spring break, we put forth another solid effort from start to finish. We earned a sweep of nine straight matches by staying focused, emphasizing our strengths, and holding ourselves and each other up to our best competitive standards. Many highlights to go around that started with three convincing doubles wins 8-2, 8-3, and 8-2 in the top three doubles positions (#1 Harris/Laber, #2 Epstein/Hilty, and #3 Maris/Vilys). We followed up with six more singles victories in straight sets. The singles victories in order from #1-6 came from Laber, Epstein, Hilty, Yuan, Mairs, and Vilys. It was fun seeing our group supporting each other up and down the courts while enjoying competing and the process of building our games to become stronger and stronger. Our passion and joy for each step in our journey help us to keep it all in perspective! Click here to see full description of the match.

Zihao lined up the ball nicely for this photo!

Upcoming Schedule 

- Saturday April 16th  @ 10am vs Williams (alumni match) 

Check out the link for live steaming and live scoring on our results/schedule page. We will host a gathering for any men's tennis alumni at about 330pm after the match to celebrate our alumni being back on campus and to highlight Bob’s last journey as a part of the Panther coaching staff! 

Go Midd!

The Middlebury Men’s Tennis Coaching Staff

Panthers Go 4-0 Against DIII Opponents in SoCal

It has been three years since our last Spring Break in Southern California, and it was a joy to be back competing against some of the best competition that DIII has to offer! The Panthers played some great tennis, continue to build our confidence about the team we can become, and made sure to soak in the special moments that happen when traveling together as a team. The coaching staff is incredibly proud of the effort and grittiness of our team so far this year and look forward to building and rising from here.

Doubles pair Neel Epstein and Zach Hilty always play with fire and passion!

Occidental Highlights (Midd wins 8-1)

We kicked off the competition by facing Occidental (ITA National Ranking #39). This was a stiff test for the Panthers as we got our feet on the ground in SoCal and were adjusting to outdoor tennis on the fly. Despite the well-coached and competitive opponents, the Panthers rose to the challenge across the board. We swept all three doubles and won four straight set singles matches (Morris at #1 singles, Harris at #2 singles, Epstein at #5 singles, and Yuan at #6 singles). In a great way to finish the match, Noah Laber won a hard fought three set match at #3 singles in his first college dual match with the whole group cheering him on! We also won three exhibition matches at #4 doubles (Yuan/Mairs) and #7 (Joe Mairs) and #8 (David Vilys) singles. Full match details can be found here.

Pacific Highlights (Midd wins 6-3)

In our next matchup, we competed against Pacific University (ITA National Ranking #37) hosted in Claremont, CA. They came at us from the start and made for a battle from start to finish. The Panthers won smoothly 8-2 at #3 doubles before dropping hard fought points at both #1 and #2 doubles. Never easy heading into singles play down 2-1, but our team stayed united and confident in our ability to bounce back in singles. Almost immediately evening the match score at 2-2, Zihao Yuan posted a decisive 6-0, 6-0 victory. Building on that momentum, the Panthers captured straight set victories at #2 (Aidan Harris), #3 (Noah Laber), and #5 (Zach Hilty) to secure a match victory. Neel Epstein also completed a comeback at the #4 singles spot winning 6-1 and 6-1 in the final two sets. This match allowed us to reflect on what we can do better as a group and helped to ready us for the next challenges we were to face on the trip. We also won three exhibition matches at #4 doubles (Yuan/Mairs) and #7 (Joe Mairs) and #8 (David Vilys) singles. Full match details can be found here.

Celebratory hug!

Azusa Pacific Highlights (Midd drops match 0-4)

Increasing our readiness for outdoor tennis against tough competition, the Panthers were looking forward to taking on one of the best DII teams in the country in Azusa Pacific. Although we lost a 4-0 decision, we were either up or in a third set in the last three matches that were not to be finished. We also won two exhibition matches at #7-8 singles via Joe Mairs and David Vilys. Credit to Azusa for taking it to us this day and helping us to stay humble and hungry. We felt we did not play our best tennis and this match served to sharpen our motivation for the next two DIII matches ahead. Full match details can be found here.

Pomona-Pitzer Highlights (Midd Wins 6-3)

As we moved through the trip, the Panthers were ramping up to face the ITA #10 Nationally Ranked Pomona-Pitzer on their home courts. We knew Pomona was a talented and dangerous squad and that we would need to bring our best effort on their home courts. In doubles play, we got off to a slow start going down a break at all three doubles positions. When things were looking bleak, the Panthers kept fighting hard in all three spots and our perseverance paid off with #1 doubles completing an impressive comeback from 4-7 down to capture an 8-7 (5) victory. This gave our team some momentum heading into singles even though we were again facing a 2-1 deficit after doubles play. Reminding each other that we believe in each and every spot throughout our lineup, the Panthers came out determined to mount another singles comeback. We ended up winning five of six incredibly hard fought singles matches. At the top spot, Stan Morris demonstrated his ability to play at an elite level winning in straight sets 6-1, 6-4. At number #6 singles, Zihao Yuan won in two tightly contested sets 7-5, 6-4 competing with poise and conviction. With the overall match score now tied at 3-3, the Panthers dug deep and played some clutch tennis. At #5 singles, Zach Hilty mounted an impressive come from behind win after being down 2-5 in the third set securing a 7-6 in the third victory to put the Panthers just one point away from victory. Cool and calm as could be, Noah Laber clinched the victory for the team winning his match 7-5, 5-7, 6-2. Then in the final match of the day that lasted almost four hours, Neel Epstein won a thriller in front of a packed crowd of players, families, and fans by a score of 7-5, 6-7(10), 7-6(8) including completing a rarely seen feat of saving six straight match points after being down 0-6 in the third set tiebreaker. Neel played with incredible heart and thrived on the big stage! Full match details can be found here.

CMS (Midd Wins 5-4)

When it seemed things could not get much more exciting, the Panthers put an exclamation point on our Spring Break trip by earning a 5-4 victory over CMS (ITA National Ranking #3). The match started with CMS earning the first point at #2 doubles, and then the Panthers roaring back and earning very impressive wins at #1 (Morris/Vilys) and #3 (Epstein/Hilty) doubles both in 8-7 tiebreak fashion! On the doubles courts, we played with courage and conviction in the big moments and that mentality gave us confidence heading into singles against another team that has a very deep singles lineup. As the match began in the evening, all the singles matches were played under the lights in front of a packed home crowd creating a really fun road atmosphere to compete in. With many matches finishing fairly close together, CMS added points to their team total at positions #2-4, while Stan Morris again put together another impressive singles performance winning 6-2, 6-2 at the top position for the Panthers. This left the Panthers needing to capture both #5 and #6 singles. Next to finish was Zach Hilty who played gritty and aggressive ball to earn a 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 victory to even the match at four points all! With the team match coming down to his court, #6 singles Zihao Yuan was up a set and at 3-3 in his second set. Staying calm and focused, Zihao played incredibly determined all-around tennis to win three straight games to clinch a huge 5-4 win for the Panther squad! Full match details can be found here.

The Panthers always finding new and creative ways to celebrate a win!

Other Fun Trip Highlights

In addition to the tennis, the Panthers got to enjoy being in SoCal as a group and being together away from campus. We ate incredibly well including the DoubleTree Hotel breakfast, Taco Man (a spring break must), Elvira’s Mexican Grill, and of course Chipotle, Blaze Pizza, and more! Important to fuel up our group! Another annual SoCal team event included enjoying a BBQ feast at Bryan Shapiro’s (a former UC Santa Cruz player for Coach Hansen) who cooked up yet another incredible meal for the hungry Panthers. So appreciate his family’s hospitality and setting us up with some table tennis, hot tub, and corn hole to help our group enjoy some relaxation on one of our off days.

These al pastor Taco Man tacos in Upland, CA are legendary!

Thank You

We also want to take time to thank all the parents, family members, and other supporters who came out to SoCal to watch our matches, brought snacks, and helped take care of our group while we were on the road. It was great to see so many people and made us feel like we were right at home in CA!

Upcoming Events

• Next match @ Wesleyan at 10am EST on Saturday, April 2nd 
• Alumni Match at 10am Saturday, April 16th vs Williams 
• We plan to host food and drinks after the match. Please let us know if you will be joining us.
• Senior Night, April 30th after our Match with Colby (all family and friends are welcome)
• We plan to host food and drinks after the match. Please let us know if you will be joining us.

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

Go Midd!

The Middlebury Men’s Tennis Coach Staff

Panthers (2-1) Heading into Spring Beak in Southern California

It was a special opening weekend for the Panthers last, as we returned to dual match play for the first time since May 2019! We started off competing against two nationally ranked opponents in Tufts (#12 nationally) and Bates (#29 nationally), followed by a DII opponent St. Michael’s. We went 2-1 across the three matches, competed well as a group, and displayed awesome depth up and down our roster. On Sunday, we won 20 straight matches in singles and doubles play if you count two exhibition matches. We gained invaluable feedback into where we are as a team, and showed we are right there with some of the best teams in the country. We are now feeling emboldened about where we can build from here. 

Robby Ward getting ready to snap a forehand!

Tufts Match Highlights (Middlebury edged 4-5)

Despite losing an incredibly hard fought 4-5 decision, we had many silver linings and positive highlights from our battle with Tufts. Stan Morris and David Vilys kicked off the doubles with a decisive 8-3 victory at the #1 doubles position and demonstrated they will be a force to be reckoned with even against top teams. On the singles side of the ball, Neel Epstein began his college career with an incredibly impressive straight set victory at #4 singles and senior Zach Hilty won the final singles match of the day in a war at #3 singles for the Panthers. Special shoutout goes to Robby Ward, who won at #6 singles despite having to compete with his left wrist in a sling. What a boss! Credit to the Tufts team for playing a great match this day. As a group, we know the sting from this loss will help sharpen our preparations for the road ahead! A complete description of results can be found here.

Bates Match Highlights (Middlebury wins 9-0)

In the first test of our resilience as group, our team bounced back with an incredible performance against a difficult Bates team after a loss the previous day. Harris/Ward and Hilty/Epstein won soundly at #2 and #3 doubles, while Morris/Vilys saved multiple match points to come back for a win at #1 doubles. Morris continued his winning ways in singles by earning a straight sets victory against a highly ranked regional opponent at #1 singles. Harris, Epstein, Ward, and Yuan all posted straight set victories and played inspired tennis across the board. Again, Hilty won another hard-fought match finishing with his teammates lined up watching and cheering him on! A complete description of results can be found here.

St. Michael’s Match Highlights (Middlebury wins 9-0)

In a fun in-state matchup against a DII opponent, Middlebury demonstrated both our depth and fitness competing in back-to-back matches. Winning all nine matches, highlights included Aidan Harris winning in straight sets at the #1 singles position against a very gritty opponent, David Vilys bombing big serves en route to a straight set victory, and Zihao Yuan winning a fun three-set battle. Perhaps in the biggest highlight of the entire weekend, the final two matches won by the Panthers were Max Kim at #5 singles who won in straight sets with the team cheering him to the finish line and Andrew Mueller at #6 singles who won a three-set come from behind thriller without the benefit of being able to serve fully as he still is recovering from an operation on his shoulder. Max and Andrew’s charisma and energy got the crowd pumped and was a great exclamation point on a great day for the Panther squad. A complete description of results can be found here.

Max Kim getting ready to blast a backhand!

Upcoming Matches in Southern California (starting tomorrow!)

Sat 3/19: 4pm PST @ Occidental

Sun 3/20: 10am PST vs Pacific (hosted @ CMS)

Mon 3/21: 230pm PST @ Azusa Pacific

Weds 3/23: 3pm PST @ Pomona-Pitzer

Fri 3/25: 5pm PST @ CMS

Reminder, live scoring can be found by clicking on the links for each match on our team’s schedule page. Please note all match times listed on theMiddlebury website are in EST time zone.

Go Midd!

The Middlebury Men’s Tennis Coaching Staff

Panthers Season Opener Two Weeks Away!

The Middlebury Panthers are highly anticipating our upcoming dual matches that are about two weeks away! The coaching staff has been impressed by the tremendous work ethic and camaraderie that has already been developed so thoroughly among our group. Each year, our incredibly competitive schedule will bring us many challenges each week and having the foundation of togetherness will be critical to navigating our journey this season. Already, we know we will have to navigate a couple of tricky and unexpected injuries but as a group we view this as another opportunity to rise to the occasion.

Sophomore Max Kim getting ready to stick a forehand volley!

Opening weekend for us will be March 12th and 13th when we will play three teams all in Nelson Arena! On Saturday, we face off against Tufts (2pm). Then on Sunday we will compete against Bates (2pm) followed by St. Michael’s (5pm). It will be an action packed and fun filled weekend that we have been working hard to prepare for!

Live Steaming with Tennis-Ticker Virtual Scoreboard.  

If you won’t be able to be with us here in Middlebury, we will have live scoring and live streaming all weekend (find links for each match on the Schedule/Results page of our website). 

From the links on our schedule page, you will be directed to a TennisTicker virtual scoreboard specific to each match that will provide live scoring for all matches being played. If it is a home match, then each court that is currently active will have a “Camera Icon” (circled in red in the picture below) that you can click to access the video live stream for that specific court.

Picture above is what our virtual TennisTicker scoreboard will look like for each home match.

Reminder: Senior Night and Alumni Weekend 

Our Alumni Match Day will be April 16th versus Williams. Our Senior Weekend will be April 30 and May1 where we square off against Bowdoin and Colby. Please let us know if you will be able to join us for either weekend!

Let’s go Midd!

The Middlebury Men’s Tennis Coaching Staff