Men's Tennis Takes Down Top-Ranked Team on West Coast Swing

Author: Ian Fleishman

The Middlebury men's tennis team returned to the confines of Nelson Arena after going 3-2 in California competition over Spring Break. The Panthers went into the trip without having dropped a single game in singles play, and though the streak did not continue, the team was happy with the results.
The team began the trip with a match on Saturday, March 22 against California-Lutheran University, ranked 22nd in the nation. After a long, hard-fought match, the Panthers came out on the wrong end of a 4-3 score. Middlebury lost all three doubles matches, which gave Cal-Lutheran a deciding point, though three Panthers managed victories coming right off the plane. Nathan Edmunds '06 won at the two spot, as did Ari Beilin '06 at number four and Andrew Jacobi at six.
"It was a tough loss," said team captain Stu Brown '04, "but it was the first day we arrived and we lost to a top 25 team."
The next day the Panthers faced Chapman, and came away with an easy 7-0 win, and was followed with a loss the following day to Vanguard, an NAIA school. The loss does not count in the rankings for Middlebury, since the team is from a different athletic conference.
The high point for Middlebury came on March 27 when the team lined up against the fifth-ranked team in the nation, University of Redlands. In a way, the Panthers were able to avenge Sunday's loss by earning the 4-3 score in their favor. It was a fine performance from a team that has high hopes for the rest of the season.
"We were very happy with the win against the number five ranked team," said Brown. "Everyone played really well."
The Panthers lost at the number one and six spots, as well as all three doubles places, but numbers two through five all came away with strong, straight-set victories. The winning team members were Edmunds at two, Brian Waldron '06 at three, Beilin at four, and co-captain Steve Hulce '03 closing out the team's wins at number five.
The team's final match out west was against Pomona-Pitzer Colleges, another team ranked in the country's top 25, and this time the Panthers earned a commanding 6-1 victory. Edmunds, Waldron, Beilin, Hulce and Jacobi all won their singles matches, and the Panthers also swept the three doubles matches to take the point.
Middlebury is now looking at a tough schedule for the rest of the season, but with the strong results from California, the team's confidence is high. The team has a number of difficult matches ahead, including the nation's top-ranked team, Williams, at home on April 9.
"Every match is going to be tough," says Brown. "We've got a hard match against Dartmouth [today] and then we'll just be rolling through all the NESCAC schools for the rest of the season."
The team had a third place showing at the NESCAC Championships last year, and according to Brown, "We want to improve on last year's performance." The Panthers' most critical stretch of the season is coming up, and the team has the talent to back up its number 12 national ranking.