The third-ranked Middlebury men's tennis team continued its torrid start to the spring season, improving to 7-0 in dual matches with a 6-3 victory over #21 UC Santa Cruz Monday afternoon in southern California. The match was played on Whittier College's Richard Ettinger Tennis Courts as part of the Panthers' spring break trip. Middlebury returns to action Tuesday when it squares off at ninth-ranked Pomona-Pitzer at 7:00 p.m.

The Panthers opened action Monday by dropping two of the three doubles matches against the Banana Slugs (4-7). The lone Middlebury point came from the #2 tandem of Ari Smolyar and Noah Farrell by an 8-4 score against Chadwick Stone and Derek Levchenko.

In singles play, the Panthers battled back and took five of the singles matches, all in straight sets. Allen Jackson was the first to finish and tied the match at 2-2 with a 6-2, 6-0 win against James Soper at #6. Smolyar gave the Panthers a 3-2 lead, improving to 18-1 this season and 5-0 in dual-match play with his 12th-straight win, a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Max Littlejohn in the top flight.

Jackson Frons made the score 4-2 in favor of Middlebury via a 6-2, 6-3 decision over AJ Flora in the fourth spot, while Farrell clinched the team victory, as he grabbed the first set at #2 (6-3) against Stone before his opponent was forced to retire. Palmer Campbell gave Middlebury its sixth point with a 6-2, 6-4 triumph over Kyle Richter at #3.

UC Santa Cruz grabbed its third point when Sean Hollister earned a hard-fought three-set victory over Courtney Mountifield (4-6, 6-1, 6-4) in the fifth flight.