Men's Tennis in Tight Matches, Win or Lose

Author: David Lindholm

With a tight 4-3 victory over Tufts on Friday, the men's tennis team picked up some momentum heading into their most difficult match of the regular season. The team faces Williams today in a match that features the Ephs, the top-ranked team in the country, against the Panthers, who have knocked off the number five team and sat at number 12 in the pre-season poll.
Middlebury began the week with a match at Dartmouth on April 2, which it lost by a score of 6-1.
Dartmouth is a Division I team, so the result will not count toward the postseason, and the match was good experience for the young tennis team.
The lone Panther point came from first-year Nathan Edmunds, who took the first set 6-3, dropped the second 6-1, and fought out a 10-7 win in the third. Edmunds also combined with fellow first-year Brian Waldron for a doubles win, though Dartmouth took the doubles point by winning two out of the three games.
Friday's match at Tufts was more important for the Panthers, who were looking at the first New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) match of the season. The Jumbos finished sixth in the NESCAC tournament last year, and their improved squad played the Panthers very closely throughout the day's action.
Tufts took the early advantage in doubles, winning two out of the three matches to take the one point. The lone winners for the Panthers were co-captains Steve Hulce '03 and Stuart Brown '04 who won 8-2.
The loss in doubles gave the single matches extra importance, and Middlebury responded well, winning four of the six to earn the 4-3 win. Each of the four players who won their singles matches needed three sets, showing the determination and fitness advantage that the Panthers had over Tufts. Justin Ingoglia fought back from a tough 6-7 loss in the first set to take the next two 6-3 and 6-4, and Hulce also won his match after losing the first set 6-7. Waldron won 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, and Ari Beilin '06 also won by a score of 6-1, 3-6, 6-1.
Next up for the team is Williams, who is a dominating force in Division III men's tennis. The Ephs have won 10 straight NESCAC titles, and won the National Championship last year. The Panthers will have their work cut out for them as they try to upset the best Division III team in the country, and host Williams at 4:00 today.