Men's Tennis Bags Another Title

Author: Bob Wainwright

Following a dominating performance at the Middlebury Invitational, the Middlebury men's tennis team continued its fine play at the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) North Championship this past weekend, placing first among 12 teams. The Panthers swept through the competition, earning 28 overall points, which was nine more than second-place finisher NYU. The championship consisted of five singles and one doubles tournaments. Of these, Middlebury won all but the number-one singles draw.
In top singles action, Justin Ingoglia '05 edged out a tight quarterfinal match in two tiebreakers, winning 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5) over Stonehill College. He then went on to win his first set against Danny Babkes of Amherst before falling 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. At number two singles, Middlebury Invitational champion Nate Edmunds '06 ploughed through his draw with determination, losing no more than two games in any one set throughout his three matches. In the final, Edmunds handed his Amherst opponent a crushing defeat to the tune of 6-2, 6-2.
First-year Brian Waldron followed up his own win at the Invitational in a similar fashion, dropping a total of seven games in three matches en route to a 6-0, 6-1 route of NYU in the final. Waldron's high-powered serve, which he seemingly hit effortlessly at speeds of up to 125 miles per hour, gave his opponents very little with which to work. Sophomore Alex Meditz may have played more games than Waldron, but emerged with the same result as he took home the number-four singles win with three-set victories in each of his final two matches. After winning all twelve games in his opening match, Meditz lost the first set to Adelphi in the semifinals before winning 4-6, 6-0, 6-1. He then played Shaun Goodman of Oneonta College in the final and managed to thwart a late charge from his opponent, while winning 6-1, 3-6, 7-5. In tight contests, Meditz has consistently proved he is more trustworthy than a Notre Dame football team under Ty Willingham.
Co-captain Stu Brown '04 played solid tennis throughout the weekend in the number-five draw, winning all six of his sets en route to a satisfying tournament victory. In the final, Brown played a tough opponent in Chris Dong from NYU, but was not bothered by Dong's consistent ground strokes, a mindset that resulted in a 6-1, 6-4 win.
In doubles action, the rather large team of Ari Beilin '06 and co-captain Steve Hulce '03.5 wasted a great deal of sweat but certainly no sets during their three wins in the championship. Tempers flared at one point in the final when a gigantic Hulce overhead pummeled one of the Brandeis players in the chest, but as the Brandeis team wisely took into account the weight differentials on the court, the matter escalated no further than a few nasty stares in the Middlebury direction. Hulce and Beilin won the final 6-2, 6-1.
Overall, it was a tremendous weekend for the Panthers who, in winning the ECAC North Championship for the first time, proved that there should be no doubts regarding the talent on this year's squad. Coming up next for the team is the Rolex Tournament this weekend.