Panthers (13-6) Host NESCAC Championships This Weekend

Perhaps a good omen for good things to come, the Panthers again enter the NESCAC tournament as the #3 seed for the second year in a row. With only one match played last weekend, the Panthers dropped an extremely close 6-3 decision to Amherst. Special shot out to #3 doubles (Eazor/Xiao) who posted an impressive 8-1 win, as well as #6 singles (Morris) and #2 singles (Cuba) who both posted straight set victories. Despite the loss, the coaching staff remains confident in our team’s ability to compete with the very best teams in the nation. We will look to be firing from all cylinders, as we approach a very strong NESCAC tournament. A good run at NESCACs will hopefully pave our path for another exciting run at NCAAs. We are feeling very, very, very DANGEROUS!

NESCAC Tournament

Up next for the Panthers is the NESCAC tournament. With the calculations for determining seeding being based mainly on NESCAC play, we were given the #3 seed. Given that five of the NESCAC teams are ranked top 10 nationally, we know each match in the tournament will be a good battle.

We are lucky to be a part of a program that is unafraid
of chasing down big dreams and that has such a rich history!

The outdoor schedule for our matches during the tournament is as follows:

5/3  @1130am: Tufts, and if we win…

5/4  @1130am: Wesleyan, and if we win…

5/5        @9am: Williams, Bowdoin, or Amherst

Please be aware that times may be adjusted slightly if we have to move indoors or if preceding matches go longer than expected. The links for live streaming and live scoring can, as always, be found here. https://athletics.middlebury.edu/sports/mten/2018-19/schedule There will be a camera icon on the live scoring page if live video is available (not guaranteed for all matches, but most should have live video).

A full description of the NESCAC Championships can be found here.

https://athletics.middlebury.edu/sports/mten/2018-19/releases/20190501fe9wuq?fbclid=IwAR24pKT4aue43HH5na2O_sKyuRslrz5kQSGcUJxBKeg8VA-jpJtT60V2LDA

As we prepare for the postseason, our guys are thrilled for the excitement of the most important matches of the year. As we mentioned before our postseason run last year, it is always a pleasure to know that we have poured our hearts into our training to prepare ourselves to be in the best position possible for the time of year that matters the most. Our main goal is not just to win matches, but to make sure no one out there is having more fun doing it!

Snack shout out for last weekend goes to the Farrell’s and the Cuba’s! Our boys, and the coaching staff, remains ever spoiled in the best way! We also had amazing support from many other parents, including parents of recent alumni Courtney Mountifield and Chris Frost as well as the Brachs bringing their incredible support. Thank you to everyone and we apologize if we are missing anyone.

Game on! Go Midd!

The Middlebury Men's Tennis Coaching Staff

Panthers (13-5) Building Momentum With Final Regular Match On Saturday

With each weekend in April, there are more and more exciting NESCAC matches. This past weekend, the Panthers again demonstrated their grittiness with two rock solid wins. Before I get any further, as I forgot to include this in our last blog post, I want to make sure to give a big shout out to the Middlebury Panther parents, particularly Alex V’s, Weston’s, Peter’s, and Nate’s parents who brought snacks and drinks to help fuel our boys to four straight wins over the past two weekends! Thank you!

Overall, the coaching staff felt that it was our improved doubles play that supported our group to putting two key victories on the board. As we move forward it will be essential to be at our best level on both the doubles and singles side of the ball.

An admittedly old picture back from spring break of Cuba '19,
but the Maine weekend was just too action-packed to have many
photos as most were focused on cheering on our boys! 

On Friday against Bates, we tested three new doubles teams (comprised of the same six players) and won all three positions on our way to an overall 7-2 team win. On Saturday against Bowdoin, we had an incredible and tightly contested match from start to finish with doubles again setting the tone where our newly formed teams won two out of three matches against some of the best doubles teams at their respective positions in the country.

Bates Match Highlights

With an amazingly warm April day in Maine, we played an outdoor match against Bates. Our doubles play set the tone early, and we rolled to three victories with Cuba/Marin winning 8-2, Samets/Farrell winning 8-2, and Eazor/Xiao winning 8-6. The energy level was great as the Panthers were determined to get our doubles mojo back! The Panthers knew that Bates is a formidable opponent if we were the let our foot off the gas, but our #4 through #6 singles all played at an incredible level securing three straight set matches without anyone losing more than two games in a set. Pretty impressive stuff. At #3 singles, Guo continued his winning ways and pulled out a match tiebreaker in lieu of a third set with the rest of our team watching him secure the 7^th point for the Panthers. Click here for a full match recap. 

Samets '20 showing off his athleticism!

Bowdoin Match Highlights

In a tightly contested match at nearly every doubles and singles position, it was an amazingly competitive atmosphere on the road. Bowdoin was hosting their alumni weekend, which made the tennis all the more exciting with so many fans roaring from the sidelines at the local indoor club which hosted our match. On the doubles side of the ball, we got down early at #3 doubles and then roared back to make it extremely competitive before falling 8-6. At #1 doubles, no team had their serve broken but the Panthers played some of their best tennis in the tiebreaker, winning 8-7(5). At #2 doubles, Farrell/Samets played some incredibly exciting tennis playing off of each other’s strength, saving multiple match points, and coming from behind to win 8-7(7) to give the Panthers a 2-1 lead heading into singles play.

Despite playing some solid tennis at the positions that did not end up going our way, Cuba, Xiao, and Morris all seem to be gradually elevating their games as we head toward the end of our regular season and postseason play. Xiao’s match was just starting a third set when we clinched the match, and having him out there battling until the end gave the rest of our Panthers more breathing room as we fought to put 5 points on the board. Putting the first singles point on the board for the Panthers, Eazor played some aggressive tennis to completely switch the momentum of the match after dropping the first set earning a 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory! Winning by an identical score, Guo also roared back after dropping a first set to win 3-6, 6-2, 6-3. Though he had been winning easily in straight sets for our past few matches, senior captain Farrell clinched the deciding point for the Panthers winning by a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 score line. BIG MIDD! The full match recap can be seen here. 

Farrell '19 came up with the clinching win for the Panthers!

Upcoming Schedule

Saturday, April 27^th : 12pm at Amherst

Friday-Sunday, May 3^rd – 5^th : NESCAC Championships @Middlebury

Check out our link for live scoring on our results/schedule page.

Go Midd!

The Middlebury Men's Tennis Coaching Staff