The top-ranked men’s tennis team improved to 12-1 for the season Saturday after defeating number 13 Trinity 7-2. Senior captain and 10th-ranked singles player Andy Peters ’11 led the Panthers with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Anson McCook of Trinity in the number one singles match. With the win, Peters improved to 7-2 at the top singles spot for the season.
First-year Brantner Jones ’14, who defeated DJ Patrick 6-1, 6-1 in the number six singles match, was equally impressive. Jones and Peters also teamed up to form the number one doubles team. The first-year and the senior captain, who make up the 21st-ranked doubles team nationally, remained unbeaten over the weekend, running their record to 6-0 for the season, downing Anson McCook and Charles McConnell of Trinity 8-2.
The Panthers took two of three doubles matches while dropping just two singles sets on route to a dominant 5-1 singles record on the day. Derrick Angle ’12, Alec Parower ’13 and Spencer Lunghino ’13 all recorded wins in their singles matches in addition to the stellar performances of Jones and Peters. On the doubles side Spencer Lunghino and David Farah ’12 defeated Kayong Lee and Matthew Mackin of Trinity 8-4 to give the Panthers their second doubles win.
“Our win over 13th-ranked Trinity was a solid team performance over a quality team,” said head coach Rob Barr.
“Senior Andy Peters, Brantner Jones and Spencer Lunghino led the team winning both singles and doubles in dominant fashion. Alec Parower’s win at number four singles was very impressive as well.”
The Panthers have gone 2-0 since returning from a trip to California over the spring recess where the team posted a 7-1 record with its lone loss coming at the hands of Azusa Pacific, who also accounted for one of Middlebury’s two losses during their national championship season last year. The Panthers swept Hamilton 9-0 in their first match after the break last Sunday.
The trip to the West Coast also gave the Panthers their first opportunity to play outside since the fall.
“Playing in California allowed us to transition to playing outdoors again,” Barr said. “The team gained valuable match experience and confidence in winning seven of eight matches against some of the top teams in the country.”
The Panthers travel to Maine this weekend to play at Bates and Bowdoin. On Saturday they play the 21st-ranked Bobcats of Bates and then on Sunday they face Bowdoin, the 14th-ranked team in the country. As it stands, each of the five remaining matches the Panthers play is against a team currently ranked in the top 30 including a season-ending showdown at fourth-ranked Amherst, who the Panthers defeated in the National Championship match last year.
To say that this Panthers team has been dominant in the NESCAC is an understatement. Coming off last year’s national championship win, the top-ranked Panthers have now won 14 consecutive matches against NESCAC opponents including the postseason and have won 22 straight league matches.
Perhaps the most outstanding statistic about this team is its home winning streak. The Panthers last home loss came on April 5 – of 2002. Over the past nine plus years, the Middlebury men’s tennis team has won 65 straight home matches. And they do not appear to be slowing down anytime soon.
Despite such an outstanding streak and the pressure of the number one ranking in the country, head coac
h Rob Barr insists that the expectations don’t affect his team’s play.
“The team doesn’t worry about the rankings,” he said. “We are motivated by improvement and playing our best each time out.”
Barr also added that his team will continue to get better heading into the postseason. “Each week, the men have raised their level of play, but our best tennis is yet to come.”
Top-ranked men’s tennis takes down Bantams 7-2
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