Men reach finals, but win is elusive

Author: Peter Baumann

Coming into the NESCAC championships last weekend, the men's tennis team liked where they stood. The hosts entered the weekend undefeated on the Proctor courts for the year, and they were searching for their fifth-straight NESCAC title. Two matches and one heartbreaking defeat later, the Panthers left the court holding out hope that they would be granted an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.

After receiving a bye through to the semifinals, Middlebury opened play against a talented Amherst squad fresh off an upset of third-seeded Williams. The Panthers jumped out to an early lead, posting a 2-1 mark in doubles play. Middlebury's number-one pairing of captain Fil Marinkovic '08 and Andrew Thomson '10 got things started with an 8-4 victory, and they were soon joined in the winner's circle by Chris Mason '10 and Andrew Lee '10, who posted an 8-5 victory in the number two slot.

Middlebury took five of the six singles matches, highlighted by Peter Odell's '10 6-1, 6-2 straight-set victory, to provide the final margin. By virtue of the win the Panthers earned a date with Bowdoin, who had upset top-seeded Trinity in the other semifinal, in the NESCAC championship.

The Polar Bears gave Middlebury a taste of their own medicine on Sunday, taking a 2-1 lead after the doubles matches. This time it was Middlebury's number-three pairing of Rich Bonfiglio '11 and Andy Peters '11 that provided the lone tally.

"Bowdoin came out of the gates and were more fired up, more aggressive, and wanted it more than we did," said Thomson, "our team had a great performance against an Amherst team which also came to play, but we did not have the same passion on Sunday we did on Saturday."

Middlebury was able to tie things up briefly during the singles matches, but losses at number-one and number-two singles put the Panthers in a position where they needed to win the last three matches of the day to earn the title. Peter and Bonfiglio tied the overall score at four with victories at number-four and number five singles respectively. The attention then shifted to number-five singles, where Odell was locked in a winner-take-all third set to decide the championship.

With the rest of the Bowdoin team watching anxiously from atop the hill and the Middlebury faithful grouped on a neighboring court, the tension increased as momentum swung from player to player. In the end, Bowdoin's Tyler Anderson was able to squeak out a 6-4 victory and send the Polar Bears back to Maine with the NESCAC championship.

Recognizing their impeccable effort, the NCAA selection committee rewarded the Panthers not only with an at-large bid to the NCAA championship, but also with an opportunity to be a host.

"Fortunately we have one more opportunity to redeem ourselves," said Marinkovic, who is now faced with the task of focusing Middlebury's disappointment toward inspired play. He and the rest of the Panthers will return to the courts May 2-4 to try and remove the bitter taste of defeat from their mouths.

Additional reporting by Tianze Ma.