The sixth-ranked Middlebury men's tennis team fell to #1 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps by a 7-2 score Friday afternoon in the final match of the Panthers' spring break trip to southern California. The rematch of last spring's NCAA Semifinal was played on the Biszantz Family Tennis Center. Middlebury has a little more than a week off from competition before playing Skidmore and Hamilton on the road next Saturday.

The Panthers opened action Friday dropping two of the three doubles matches against the Stags (14-1). CMS' Nikolas Marino and Bryan Mehall claimed the first point with an 8-4 victory over Chris Frost and Kyle Schlanger. Skyler Butts and Daniel Morkovine, the west region's seventh-ranked team, made it 2-0 in favor of the Stags with a narrow 8-6 win over Ari Smolyar and Noah Farrell, the northeast region's eighth-ranked tandem.

In a matchup of regionally-ranked duos, Middlebury's point came at #1 from third-ranked Palmer Campbell and Peter Heidrich over top-ranked Warren Wood and Joe Dorn.

Singles play featured numerous matches showcasing regionally-ranked players against each other. Dorn, ranked 20th, was the first to finish with a 6-3, 6-4 win against Middlebury's Jackson Frons. Max Macey made the score 4-1 in favor of CMS with a 6-1, 6-1 victory against William de Quant in the sixth spot.

Wood, the west region's top-ranked individual, clinched the match for the Stags as he edged Smolyar, #1 in the northeast, by a 6-7 (4-7), 6-1, 6-1 tally. Campbell, the 24th-ranked player, scored Middlebury's point at #3 with a 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) victory against the west's ninth-ranked opponent in Marino.

Ahead 5-2, CMS recorded the final two points with an 0-6, 6-4, 6-2 win from Butts, ranked third in the region over #20 Farrell, while Morkovine completed the scoring with a 6-1, 5-7, 10-8 win over Middlebury's Courtney Mountifield at #5.