LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL Panther tennis obliterates conference foes en route to defense of NESCAC title

Author: Eri Nosaka

After a quick and painless defeat of Skidmore College with a score of 7-0, the Middlebury men's tennis team went on to win their second consecutive NESCAC Men's Tennis Championship Tournament, hosted by Amherst College on April 22-24. With close scores for the second and third places, Middlebury had a clear lead by the end of the three day tournament. The final scores for the top three teams were: Middlebury - 96, Bowdoin - 66, Williams - 51.

"This weekend went really well. I think we went in to the tournament expecting to win and I think that we had a lot of strong performances that helped us get the job done," said Co-captain Nate Edmunds '06. "Ari Beilin ['06] played especially well this weekend, he beat some good players and he's been looking strong all year."

In both the singles and doubles arenas Middlebury dominated the rest of the league. Out of the 6 singles finals Middlebury claimed 4 wins with impressive matches from Beilin def. (2) Jeffery Kivitz (Williams) 7-5, 6-3 ; George Mayer '07 def. (3) Michael Mintz (Amherst) 3-6, 6-2. 6-3; Alex Scott '07 def. (3) Max Rettig (Amherst) 6-1, 6-4; Salih Unsal '08 def. (2) Bryan Monier (Williams) 6-1, 6-4

In doubles two out of the three doubles matches were won by the Panthers. Doubles final scores were: (1) Beilin/Scott def. (3) Daniel Greenberg/Bryan Monier (Williams) 8-5 and Edmunds/Brian Waldron '06 def. (2) Keneally/Lawson (Bowd.) 9-8 (9-7).

Said Edmunds, "The bottom part of our lineup has been playing very well. George Mayer '07, Alex Meditz '05 and Salih Unsal all played solid tennis and looked pretty convincing in all their matches. At this point I think we're pleased with where we're at, but we still have a ways to go if we want to win nationals."

After an impressive undefeated season the Panthers gear up to play in the regionals and then hope to move on to play in the NCAA Championships, which they won last year. There is no doubt that the Panthers are looking toward that national title and are more than prepared to defend it against any team in the country.

"I think we're all really excited for nationals and obviously want to do really well. We still have a couple holes we need to fill before regionals in two weeks," said Mayer. "Our doubles is improving but can still get a little better and we need to continue to make sure we're the most disciplined team in the country in terms of shot selection."

He continued, "Every team at nationals is going to be tough. Our region is arguably the best in the country so we can't overlook our match to qualify for the final site in Santa Cruz. If we make it there, whoever wants the title the most is going to take it."