The Middlebury men's tennis team played its final match of the season as they lost a heartbreaker to Claremont by a final score of 5-4 in the NCAA third-place match. The Panthers end their season with an 18-7 record with their sixth straight trip to the NCAA semifinals.

Middlebury fell behind 2-0 in doubles play with losses at #1 and #3. Rich Bonfiglio and Andy Peters were defeated by Ronald Wu and Mike Starr 8-4 in the #3 slot, while Filip Marinkovic and Andrew Thomson fell 8-4 to Guillaume Schils and Lawrence Wang in the top slot. The Panthers got on the board at #2 as Chris Mason and Andrew Lee were 9-7 winners over Ben Hough and Eric MacColl.

Claremont took a 3-1 lead as Wang defeated Lee at #1 singles, 6-3, 6-1. Marinkovic won a tight match at #2 over MacColl to make it a 3-2 match with a 6-4, 7-5 win. Sabater defeated Peters 6-2, 6-4 at #4, leaving Claremont just one point away from the win at 4-2. Middlebury did not go away as Peter Odell out-lasted Hough at #6 singles 6-2, 1-6, 6-2. Bonfiglio tied the match at 4-4 with a 6-4, 7-6 (5) win over Brockett at #5, leaving the outcome to be decided by Starr and Thomson at #3. Starr edged out a 7-6 (10) win in a tie-breaker in the first set, before earning a 6-2 win to seal the match in the second set.

Date: May 15, 2008
NCAA Third Place Match
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 5, Middlebury 4

Singles:
1. Lawrence Wang defeats Andrew Lee (M), 6-3, 6-1
2. Filip Marinkovic (M) defeats Eric MacColl, 6-4, 7-5
3. Mike Starr defeats Andrew Thomson (M), 7(10)-6, 6-2
4. Drew Sabater defeats Andrew Peters (M), 6-2, 6-4
5. Rich Bonfiglio (M) defeats Russell Brockett, 6-4, 7 (5)-6
6. Peter Odell (M) defeats Ben Hough, 6-2, 1-6, 6-2

Doubles:
1. Guillaume Schils/Wang defeat Marinkovic/Thomson (M), 8-4
2. Chris Mason/Lee (M) defeat Hough/MacColl, 9-7
3. Ronald Wu/Starr defeat Bonfiglio/Peters (M), 8-4