Men's tennis shines under the sun

Author: Tianze Ma

With three overpowering wins last week, the Middlebury men's tennis team appears primed for the postseason. The Panthers improved to 14-4 this spring with victories over Skidmore, Amherst and The College of New Jersey (TCNJ). Middlebury has dominated opponents all spring and is in great shape heading into the NESCAC Championship, which will be held at home this coming weekend.

It all started Wednesday, April 16 against Skidmore, when the team picked an 8-1 win. The Panthers swept the doubles matches before winning five of six singles contests in straight sets. Chris Mason '10, Eliot Jia '10 and Michael Malhame '11 all won in straight sets. Rich Bonfiglio '11 fearlessly defeated his opponent in an intense deciding tiebreaker with a score of 10-8. Andrew Thomson '10, who recently returned the second spot on the ladder, defeated his opponent 6-2, 6-1.

Middlebury returned to action on Saturday, April 19 when they hosted Amherst. The sun was out, the campus was buzzing with people and the Panthers took to the outdoor courts. They won all but the number-one and number-two singles matches en route to the victory. Playing as number-five in singles, Bonfiglio again showed off his toughness in a great reversal against Amherst player Dan Kim, with a final score of 1-6, 6-3, 10-4.

"I got off to a slow start in the match," said Bonfiglio after the match, "resulting in me dropping the first set. After talking both with [head coach] Dave [Schwartz] and [assistant coach] Kord [Schwartz] I changed my tactics trying to keep more balls in play and greater depths on my shot."

Previously, in number-three doubles, Bonfiglio and his partner Andrew Peters '11 beat their opponents 8-6, while number-one doubles partners Fil Marinkovic '08 and Thomson and number-two doubles Mason and Andrew Lee '10 both overpowered their opponents 8-4.

"It's not easy to play guys who make as many balls as [Amherst's Michael] Mintz," said Lee, "but fortunately Sunday I was able to come out on top,"

The following day, the team won its fourth straight with an 8-1 victory over the 14th-ranked The College of New Jersey. The Panthers won all six singles matches, falling only in the top doubles slot. Lee, Marinkovic, Bonfiglio and Peter Odell '10 all won in straight sets over their TCNJ counterparts. Peters lost the first set, but he acted out the same reversal that his partner Bonfiglio did on Saturday, as he eventually took the victory in the 12-10 tiebreaker.

Middlebury is in outstanding shape heading into this week's NESCAC tournament. Currently, Middlebury is ranked eighth nationwide by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) and second in the Northeast, right behind Williams. At number-one singles, Lee is the second-ranked player behind only the Ephs' Dan Greenberg. With the NESCAC championships this weekend the team is poised and ready to go.

"We finally have our team at full strength with the return of Thompson both in the singles and doubles lineup," said Bonfiglio. "I feel that the team is peaking at the right time and the fact we're hosting definitely adds to the excitement." There is no doubt that the Panthers are the overwhelming favorites this weekend, with only Williams offering any real danger.