The top-seed Middlebury College men's tennis team advanced to the finals of the NESCAC Championship Tournament with a 5-2 win over fifth-seed Amherst College, improving the Panthers to 17-1 while dropping the Lord Jeffs to 13-5. Middlebury will take on Williams College Sunday at 9 a.m. in Amherst.
Middlebury's Alex Scott and George Mayer picked up a win in the #1 doubles match, defeating Zach Lerner and Tal Avrahami 8-5. Conrad Olson and Filip Marinkovic gave the Panthers a second doubles victory by earning a convincing win over Mike Mintz and Karti Subramanian, 8-2.
Amherst's juniors Jeff Wan and Geoff Schwartz kept the Jeffs close by edging out Andrew Thomson and Kevin Bergesen in the #2 doubles match, 8-6.
Lerner picked up a win over Scott in the #1 singles match, but Mayer and Bergesen won their respective singles matches to give Middlebury a 4-2 lead with three very close singles matches still going on. Dan Kim was able to take the first set from Marinkovic of Middlebury in the #6 match, but Marinkovic stormed back to win the next two sets, 6-4 and 6-2, to seal the victory for the Panthers.
In the #2 match, Olson took the first set from Mintz, 7-5, and led him 3-2 in the second set before Marinkovic finished off Kim to end the match. Subramanian and Thomson were involved in a very tight match in the #5 slot, with Subramanian taking the second set, 7-5, after Thomson cruised to a 6-0 first-set win. When Middlebury was announced victorious, Thomson and Subramanian were notched at 1-1 in the third set.
#5 Amherst College vs. #1 Middlebury College - April 28, 2007 - Mount Holyoke College
Doubles
1. Scott/Mayer (M) def. Lerner/Avrahami (A) 8-5
2. Wan/Schwartz (A) def. Thomson/Bergesen (M) 8-6
3. Olson/Marinkovic (M) def. Subramanian/Mintz (A) 8-2
Singles
1. Zack Lerner (A) def. Alex Scott (M) : 6-4, 6-4
2. Conrad Olson (M) led Mike Mintz (A) : 7-5, 3-2 (DNF)
3. George Mayer (M) def. Geoff Schwartz (A) : 6-4, 6-3
4. Kevin Bergesen (M) def. Jeff Wan (A) : 6-1, 6-1
5. Karti Subramanian (A) even with Andrew Thomson (M) : 0-6, 7-5, 1-1 (DNF)
6. Filip Marinkovic (M) def. Daniel Kim (A) : 2-6, 6-4, 6-2
Final Score: Middlebury 5, Amherst 2
