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