The Middlebury men's tennis team advanced to the semifinal round of the NCAA Tournament for the fifth consecutive year with a 5-2 win over Depauw. The Panthers will meet Emory on Wednesday, May 16th at 11:00 a.m. in a semifinal contest at Washington University in St. Louis.
Middlebury (21-1), ranked third in the nation, staved off a strong doubles effort by eighth-ranked DePauw (22-5) for a 2-1 lead. At No. 1 doubles, DePauw's Evan Webeler and Scott Swanson upended George Mayer and Alex Scott, 8-5, in a battle of top-10 doubles teams. Kevin Bergesen and Andrew Thompson of Middlebury cruised to an 8-2 win at second doubles, while Filip Marinkovic and Conrad Olson edged DePauw's Bryan Heck and Scott Sandager, 9-7, at No. 3.
Middlebury moved ahead 3-1 in singles play when Marinkovic won 6-3, 6-2 at No. 6. Thompson added another point for Middlebury, winning in straight sets (6-3, 6-2) at No. 5. DePauw's No.1 player, Webeler, helped lead his team back with a 7-5, 6-2 win over Scott to cut the Tigers' deficit to 4-2, but Conrad Olson gave Middlebury a 5-2 match win with a 6-3, 6-4 victory at No. 2. Mayer and Bergesen each led 1-0 when the contest finished.
