We wrapped up regular season play this past weekend, and it is clear our Panthers are rising heading into the postseason! Across the past two weekends, we went 4-0 against some great competition but even more importantly built our confidence and grew our collective skillset by one more step. A key ingredient to our recent success has been excellent doubles play, which we were determined to make strides with after going down 0-3 a few weeks back. Sure enough, we swept the doubles points four times in a row! This past weekend we also welcomed some wonderful Midd Men’s Tennis alums back to campus, who supported us all weekend long in addition to hosting our annual senior celebration! Needless to say, our boys were feeling the love and support from all sides, and it showed in their impressive play! We will need to continue to stay hungry, and to remind ourselves to enjoy each and every step on our journey as we venture into the NESCAC conference tournament, and then hopefully the NCAA tournament.
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| Senior Photos! |
Hamilton College (Midd wins 8-1)
We kicked off our road match versus Hamilton by building some momentum on the doubles courts. We did not lose a single game at #3 doubles (Wu/Harris), only lost 2 games at #1 doubles (Epstein/Ward), and then came up good in hard fought tiebreak win at #2 doubles (Hentschel/Wijemanne). We then stormed to five of six wins in singles, with our only loss coming at the #1 singles position. See the full box score here.
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| Max and Robby enjoying as always! |
Amherst College (Midd wins 9-0)
We knew we’d be up against a solid opponent that had been playing well in Amherst. Going into this challenge on the road, we came out swinging from all spots. After two rock solid wins at #1 and #3 doubles (Epstein/Ward and Wu/Harris), we again found ourselves watching an epic tiebreak win by #2 doubles (Wijemanne/Hentschel). We had the momentum from our second consecutive doubles sweep, but knew our opponent was not going to give up easily. Battling to four three set wins and two straight set victories, our boys did not let up across the board. The clinching match came at #3 singles (Ward). This result was one of the most complete performances we had put together all year, giving us momentum and a head of steam heading into our final two regular season matches we’d host at home the following weekend. The full box score can be seen here.
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| Noah and Thehan also enjoying getting their photographs taken! |
Bowdoin College (Midd wins 6-3)
To initiate senior weekend, we faced off with Bowdoin on the Proctor courts. In front of a great home crowd of friends and family, we jumped out to a 3-0 lead via our 3rd consecutive doubles sweep! After decisive performances by #2 (Hentschel/Wijemanne) and #3 doubles (Wu/Harris), our #1 doubles team (Epstein/Ward) took out yet another tough opponent 8-6 to complete our sweep. Even with a nice cushion after doubles, we knew we would still have to wrestle this match away from Bowdoin if we wanted to complete the victory. We are able to do just that with #5 singles (Harris) putting a point on the board to set up #4 singles (Epstein) to clinch the match against Bowdoin. At #2 singles, Julian Wu earned another impressive victory over a strong opponent in a 7-6(1) third set decider! Full box score can be seen here.
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| Noah Laber tracking the ball. |
Colby College (Midd wins 8-1)
In our final regular season match, we began things with another hot start and built on our doubles momentum. We won all three doubles positions by scores of 8-1, 8-3, and 8-3. Awesome! Colby was a talented team and we knew would not give in easily, but the boys just kept on working to get the job done. The clinch again came via the two quickest wins from #s 4 and 5 singles (Epstein and Harris), but we kept on pushing further including wins on the bookends of the lineup. At #1 singles (Laber) took out a strong and regionally ranked opponent, while at #6 singles (Lewis) played with fierce joy, earning another point for the Panthers. Fittingly, the final point of the day came from a senior at #3 singles (Ward) to put the exclamation point on a very special weekend. Full box score can be seen here.
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| Nathan lining up a forehand! |
Senior Celebration Photos
We hope you enjoy a brief glimpse into our senior celebration. It was an incredibly fun occasion!
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| A handsome group that certainly has left a big imprint on Middlebury Men's Tennis! |
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| Full squad celebrating the seniors! |
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| Seniors and Parents! |
Postseason Play Up Next
Our next match will take place on Friday, where we will take on Trinity (CT) at 9am EST in the quarterfinals of the NESCAC tournament hosted by Amherst Collge. One thing we know for sure, MIDDLEBURY LOVES THE POSTSEASON!
Go Midd!
The Middlebury Men’s Tennis Coaching Staff
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