Amherst Match and NESCAC Thoughts

Saturday’s NESCAC regular season finale between #4 ranked Amherst and #6 ranked Midd was all over D3 news as being the first battle in a war for the national title between the two conference powerhouses.

Trivia: what shot is Chris hitting?

After the smoke cleared, Amherst came away with the match, rocking us 9-0. As we have reflected back on this loss we have all agreed there wasn’t the same buzz and concentration amongst us as for the Emory match. When we arrived at the courts on the morning we played Emory, we all felt electricity in the air, and we responded wonderfully to that tension. However, upon arriving to Amherst College, all of us have agreed that we lacked the same sense of urgency. It’s important we’ve all acknowledged this subtle feeling, and we’ll use it to guide us into the final stages of the season.

We played Amherst close in many of the singles spots; Ari lost in a breaker for the 3^rd that could have gone either way, Noah took a set off a talented player in a match that featured an age old matchup between the net rushing Solimano and the baseline shot-maker Noah. Even though Noah lost in the breaker for the 3^rd, he proved he can play with the very best 2 players in the country.

Timo time

Timo’s backcourt ball striking propelled him to a 7-6, 5-2 lead before the match slowed down and his Amherst opponent grinded back for the win. Undoubtedly, this was a difficult loss for Timo, but if anyone told us Timo would find himself up a set and 5-2 against the defending national champions’ 6 player, we would be thrilled to be in such a position. With more experience, Timo will win this type of match in the future.  

Allen elevating

The purchasing of two HD pole mounted cameras has given us further insight into our doubles, as we have full clips of both 1 and 2 doubles. We plan to integrate the use of film examination into our ever-improving program going forward.

There is a noticed change in the winds surrounding Midd men’s tennis since we’ve returned from Saturday’s match. There is a noticed change to the intensity with which we’ve been approaching our work.

Mr. Smooth

With the regular season over, and the NESCAC tournament this weekend, our guys know it’s time for business to become even more focused, and our practice yesterday sent a clear message that we aren’t happy with the Amherst result. There was purpose in every ball we struck, impressive concentration, and furious force in our legs to position ourselves correctly for every shot.

Charlie- behind the scenes work.

Our physical conditioning has been slowly transforming us all season. The physical ability of our guys at this morning’s workout finally confirmed what has been in the works for a long time: we have officially traded in our PT Cruiser bodies for a fleet of roaring ’67 Ford Mustang muscle cars and Kawasaki street motorcycles. The NESCAC won’t know what to think when we roll up the garage door on Saturday with engines firing.

NESCAC Tournament Seedings:

11.     Amherst

22.     Middlebury

33.     Bowdoin

44.     Tufts

55.     Williams

66.     Trinity

#FastFurious

Coaches.

Maine Roadtrip

This past weekend's road trip had the men's and women's teams joining forces in traveling to Maine as guests to 8th ranked Bowdoin and 20th ranked Bates. The panthers came to their first obstacle before reaching the court when our coach bus belched a cloud of black smoke and lost power. Luckily, Roger, our driver, coasted into a Rutland liquor store parking lot and everyone but Jackson, who was deep in sleep, deboarded to await the replacement bus.

 

Strategy is everything 

Like the champions we are, we rolled with the punches and finally arrived in Brunswick to face off against a very talented, but young, Bowdoin team. We started the match outdoors under a cloudless sky, however, extreme rain was predicted for later in the afternoon.

Our doubles was impressive to say the least; Ari and Noah put on yet another radical performance, winning 8-1 to chalk up our first point. Next off was Chris and Will who played perhaps their most complete match of the season in terms of consistency and returning quality. As the sky filled with rain clouds we looked to complete the sweep at 1 doubles where Peter and Palmer were gridlocked in a back and forth battle. But our panther nerve proved stronger as Bowdoin double faulted on match point to give us the doubles sweep, aka: the kiss of death.

Year of the BIG M

Bowdoin and Midd coaches decided to move the match indoors before the rains came, and it wasn’t long before we stomped out any hope for a Bowdoin comeback as Palmer and Ari both won convincingly to seal the match. We received post-clinch victories from Courtney, Will, and Noah. Hats off to Noah for handling a talented opponent who was playing at a high level.

To those who missed the memo: WDQ has arrived

Also on a high level has been Charlie’s management of the @middtennis Twitter feed, receiving input from Kyle, Timo, and Allen. Tune in for live match updates and ground level insight on everything MiddTennis.   

Sunday's match against Bates saw clear skies and a fiercely contested doubles point that Midd came out of leading 2-1. Peter and Palmer bested the region's top ranked doubles team who has also pioneered the use of the head fake while playing as the server's partner; Peter and Palmer never took the bait.

Midd again offered up a singles performance that, as coaches, we are extremely proud of. Up and down the lineup we competed like champions and are proving very tough to beat when it matters late in the set.

BIG M = big business

One notable singles matchup was at the top spot where Ari faced off against Pierre Planche, who was the only player to beat Ari during fall competition. Ari has been eager for a rematch and Sunday was his day. After a premature cheer by a young female in the crowd set off an early dispute, it became clear both players were ready to play hardball. But Ari did what he does best, making the match incredibly physical, turning it into an old-fashioned Mexican knife fight in the desert. Victory- Smolyar. 

The Panthers went on to take 5 out of 6 singles matches to finish the day with a 7-2 victory against one of the few remaining undefeated teams in the NESCAC.

Palmer taking a forehand side door

We’re beginning to show our best tennis late in the season and we have already been recognized by the DIII blog as one of the hotter teams in the country as we head into post-season play. Both coaches are thrilled with our progress thus far and know we can still reach new levels as we’re improving each time we take the court. We are grateful to be running with such an inspiring group who has the courage to attack this project head on!

Saturday we visit Amherst for our last regular season match and a NESCAC powerhouse showdown. Thanks for your continued support!

Coaches