Middlebury, VT- The men's tennis team traveled to Middlebury today for a top ten clash with the Panthers. The match was played outside, and the conditions were windy when the doubles matches began. The Ephs jumped out to breaks on courts 2 and 3, while 1 doubles stayed locked on serve. At 5-5, Middlebury broke the Ephs on 1, and
Nicholas Chen and
Matt Kandel lost their first match of the year, 8-6. However the Ephs looked sharp elsewhere, as the second doubles pairing of
Shawn Berdia and
Leon Liu powered their way past an accomplished team, 8-5. Berdia and Liu both played an aggressive brand of doubles that ultimately proved too strong for Midd, and the match was even at 1-1. The doubles advantage would be decided on the third doubles court, where first time pairing
Andrew Chong and
Kush Anand found themselves up 7-4, 40-15 serving. The Midd team battled however, and ended up breaking the Ephs serve to make it 7-5. The next game would go to a no-ad deuce point, and Chong stepped up and delivered a brutal one two punch, sealed with an inside-in forehand winner. The Ephs were up 2-1. In singles play, Middlebury came out strong, winning four first sets, including two 6-0 sets quickly. The Panthers found their form on courts 4 and 6, winning in straight sets, and putting Middlebury up 3-2 overall. On one, Kandel lost the first set but won the second, and found his form in the third to win it 6-2, leveling the match at 3 apiece. Seconds later, Nic "the silent assassin" Chen quietly put his opponent to bed with a straight sets triumph, putting Williams one win away from victory. Midd once again evened up the overall score with a win on 5, and all eyes turned to court 2, where Berdia was up a set and a break, serving at 4-3. Following a 15 minute injury timeout taken by the Midd player, Berdia stepped up and promptly double faulted. However he found his composure, and won the next four points to go up 6-3, 5-3. He kept chopping, and in the next game got to 15-40, triple match point. He would only need one match point to finish it, as his heavy forehand forced an error from Middlebury, and he clinched a 5-4 win for the Ephs. Coach
Dan Greenberg said of the win, "Great team win today after a long, tough string of matches and travel. I'm proud of how everyone stepped up in one way or another, and I'm happy we managed to close it out". The Ephs return to action next Saturday away against Connecticut College.
Doubles
Ward/Epstein (MIDD) def. Chen/Kandel (WIL) 8-6
Berdia/Liu (WIL) def. Laber/Harris (MIDD) 8-5
Chong/Anand (WIL) def. Wu/Lewis (MIDD) 8-5
Singles
Kandel (WIL) def. Laber (MIDD) 0-6, 7-5, 6-2
Berdia (WIL) def. Wu (MIDD) 6-3, 6-3
Chen (WIL) def. Ward (MIDD) 6-4, 6-3
Epstein (MIDD) def. Anand (WIL) 6-4, 6-0
Harris (MIDD) def. Liu (WIL) 6-4, 6-3
Lewis (MIDD) def. Chong (WIL) 6-0, 6-4
