MIDDLEBURY, VT. – Sixth-ranked Middlebury
(16-2, 8-0), dealt seventh-ranked Williams (10-4, 5-2) a crushing
8-1 blow this afternoon. Despite having won their last four
straight matches, the Ephs' momentum came to a halt as the
Panthers, riding an impressive seven match win streak heading into
today's contest, used a 3-0 doubles advantage to cruise
through singles play.
Falling 3-0 to a top-ten team has always proven to be a difficult
match to win in singles, and today was no exception. Jeremy
Weinberger and Kevin Shallcross suffered only their second loss of
the season in an 8-3 loss to Conrad Olsen and Andrew Peters.
The top two doubles pairs of Bret Thacher and Dicken Chaplin,
and Nick Lebedoff and Will Petrie, came out on the bottom end of
close 8-6 matches.
Middlebury took two matches in straight sets quickly to take the
match. Rick Devlin fell at court three to Andrew lee, 6-1,
6-3, while Kevin Shallcross dropped only his second match of the
season at court five at the hands of Peter Odell, 6-2, 6-2.
Nick Lebedoff, coming off a thrilling match over Trinity's
Spencer Feldman on Sunday, may have run out of steam, falling in
two to Conrad Olsen, 6-2, 7-5. The remaining three matches
concluded with third set super tiebreakers. Weinberger
tallied the lone point of the day for the Ephs with a 10-5 win in
the third. Petrie rallied to take a 6-1 second set at court
four, and fell by a narrow 12-10 margin. Furmaga also stormed
back in the second set, and couldn't continue his success in
the breaker, losing 10-7.
The Ephs will look to rebound in their final match of the regular
season at Hamilton tomorrow at 11:00 a.m.
Middlebury 8, Williams 1
Doubles
1) David Farah/Andrew Thomson (M) def. Bret Thacher/Dicken Chaplin
(W) --- 8-6
2) Andrew Lee/Rich Bonfiglia (M) def. Nick Lebedoff/Will Petrie
(W) --- 8-6
3) Conrad Olsen/Andrew Peters (M) def. Jeremy Weinberger/Kevin
Shallcross (W) --- 8-3
Singles
1) Olsen (M) def. Lebedoff (W) --- 6-2, 7-5
2) Weinberger (W) def. Thomson (M) --- 5-7, 7-5, 10-5
3) Lee (M) def. Rick Devlin (W) --- 6-1, 6-3
4) Peters (M) def. Petrie (W) --- 6-4, 1-6, 12-10
5) Peter Odell (M) def. Kevin Shallcross (W) --- 6-2, 6-2
6) Derrick Angle (M) def. Karol Furmaga (W) --- 6-4, 1-6, 10-7
