Tennis Stars Shine at MIT Tourney

Author: Bob Wainwright

Following championship performances in the season's first two tournaments, the Middlebury men's tennis team sent its top five players to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) last weekend to compete in the Omni Hotels Championship, where they faced the stiffest competition they have seen thus far. Among the teams participating were Williams, which is the defending national champion, and MIT, whose strong first year class rivals that of Middlebury. The format of the tournament consisted of one singles draw with 64 slots and one doubles draw with 32 slots.
In singles action, sophomore Justin Ingoglia played his strongest tennis of the season, making it all the way to the quarterfinals. After receiving a first-round bye, Ingoglia dismissed his first opponent 6-1, 6-0. He then earned a valiant win over Amherst in three sets, 2-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4. In the quarterfinals against Bowdoin's Colin Joyner, Ingoglia lost the first set 5-7 and went down 1-5 in the second before battling all the way back to 6-5. Despite saving three match points, Joyner managed to take the second-set tie-breaker from Ingoglia, 7-4.
For Ingoglia, however, the experience was "unbelievable." "I had the most fun in tennis this weekend that I've ever had," he stated. "I really had two great battles."
Elsewhere in singles action were first-years Nate Edmunds and Brian Waldron, both of whom entered the tournament having not yet lost a singles match for Middlebury. Edmunds continued his streak in the round of 16, where he pulled out a tremendous win against Williams, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4. Unfortunately, Edmunds then met the eventual champion from MIT and suffered his first loss 6-3, 6-4.
Waldron, meanwhile, followed in his teammate's footsteps by crushing Bates, 6-0, 6-1, in the first round before playing a superlative match against a tough Williams opponent in Tim White. Showing a measure of patience absent from his play of the previous two weeks, Waldron managed to work eight and ten-ball rallies consistently into perfect set-ups for huge forehand winners. Despite his 7-6 (5), 6-2 loss to MIT in the round of 16, Waldron displayed some tremendous talent. He and Edmunds both proved a great deal by emerging triumphant in Middlebury's first two head-to-head matches against Williams.
Ari Beilin '06 may have been Middlebury's third casualty to MIT, but he fell in the round of 16 only after picking up two strong wins against Colby and Bates. In his first-round versus Colby, Beilin won easily 6-3, 6-2. But he faced a tougher challenge in veteran Bates lefty Alex MacDonald. After winning a close first set though, Beilin cruised to a 7-6 (4), 6-2 victory. Senior Captain Steve Hulce faced tough competition in his only singles match, which he lost in straight sets.
In doubles action though, the hefty team of Hulce and Beilin stomped upon Amherst 6-2, 6-3. They then suffered a tough 6-4, 6-3 loss to MIT, despite being much bigger men. The second doubles team of Ingoglia and Edmunds won their first match rather easily. In the quarterfinals, however, a pulled leg muscle severely limited Ingoglia's movement, and the added pressure on Edmunds proved to be too much. They fell 6-7 (3) 6-2, 6-2.
In practice this week, Ingoglia admitted that while his leg does feel better, he still feels the injury somewhat. The minor injury has no impact on the team though. For, as men's tennis travels north for the Bates Invitational, the top five players will all remain on campus with a well-deserved weekend off.
The final test of the short fall season will then come during the Cornell Invitational on Nov. 5.