Both the Middlebury men’s and women’s tennis teams faced NESCAC rival Amherst on Saturday, April 25, as both teams concluded their regular season schedules. The men dropped their season finale match to the Lord Jeffs on the road, falling to 16-3 overall and breaking their eight-match winning streak in the NESCAC to finish 6-1 in conference play. The women earned a narrow home victory over the third-ranked visitors, improving to 9-5 overall and 5-2 in the NESCAC. The two squads return to action this coming weekend when they host the NESCAC Championship.
The sixth-ranked men’s team suffered their first NESCAC loss of the season, falling 9-0 at the hands of fourth-ranked Amherst.
The tandem of Ari Smolyar ’16 and Noah Farrell ’18 were unable to secure a point in the second flight of doubles play, falling by a score of 8-3. The top duo of Palmer Campbell ’15 and Peter Heidrich ’15 were defeated 8-6. The final doubles match saw Chris Frost ’15 and William de Quant ’18 fall 9-8.
The day’s singles competition continued to tilt in favor of the Lord Jeffs. Middlebury’s Jackson Frons ’16, Campbell and de Quant all fell in their respective matches as Amherst picked up the big lead.
The three remaining matches were decided by third-set super tiebreakers, with Farrell ultimately falling by scores of 6-1, 4-6 and 10-7. Smolyar dropped his first set 2-6 and battled back with a 6-4 set before falling 11-9 in the match’s top flight. Timo van der Geest ’18 lost a hard-fought match to round out the competition.
Despite the loss, the Panthers sit at 16-3 on the season with a lone NESCAC loss to Amherst in the regular season’s final match. Middlebury will return to the courts this weekend as they host a myriad of NESCAC Tournament matches from Friday to Sunday, May 1-3.
The women’s team, ranked eighth nationally, earned a tight home victory over third-ranked Amherst to conclude its regular season.
The Panthers struck early in the match, racing out to a 2-1 lead following doubles play. Lauren Amos ’16 and Alexandra Fields ’17 secured an 8-3 victory to even the match score at one apiece heading into the final doubles contest. In the top flight Ria Gerger ’16 and Lily Bondy ’17 went up 9-7 to secure the crucial third point for the Panthers.
In singles play, Gerger gave the Panthers a 3-1 advantage after Amherst’s number one retired from the match. The back-and-forth momentum of the match continued as Amherst’s number two posted a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Fields. With Amherst within a point of tying, Bondy took the court and earned a 6-3, 6-4 decision in the third slot to put Middlebury up 4-2.
The Panthers led Amherst by a score of 5-3 heading into the final singles match. The Lord Jeffs made an attempt to rally, with their number-six player earning a 7-6, 0-6, 6-2 victory over Katie Paradies ’15 to conclude the day’s action.
With the narrow win the Panthers improve to 9-5 on the season and 5-2 in NESCAC competition. The team will return to action this weekend as they host the NESCAC Championship matches from Friday to Sunday, May 1-3.
