Middlebury picked up its second NESCAC men's tennis victory in as many days with a 7-2 win Sunday afternoon in Maine over #20 Bates at the Wallach Tennis Center. The sixth-ranked Panthers (16-2, 6-0) notch their eighth-consecutive win and will close out the regular-season portion of the schedule Saturday when they travel to Massachusetts for a 1:00 p.m. match with #4 Amherst.

Middlebury grabbed a narrow 2-1 lead after doubles' play in a trio of tightly-contested matches. The Panther tandem of Chris Frost and William de Quant gave the visitors the first point with an 8-5 win at #3 over Adam Schwartz and Ben Rosen. The other two matches required tiebreakers to reach a decision. At #2, the Bobcat team of Henry Lee and Patrick Ordway earned a 9-8 (5) win against Middlebury's Ari Smolyar and Noah Farrell.

With a crucial point in the balance, the Panther tandem of Peter Heidrich and Palmer Campbell gave Middlebury a lead headed to singles with a 9-8 (5) victory in the top spot over Pierre Planche and Chris Ellis.

Much like they have done all season, the Panthers dominated singles play on Sunday. Farrell was the first to finish at #2 with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Ellis, while Jackson Frons was right behind in the fourth spot, posting a similar 6-0, 6-1 triumph against Brent Feldman. Needing one more point to secure the team victory, de Quant eased past Rosen in the #5 slot by scores of 6-3, 6-1.

In the top spot that featured a pair of regionally-ranked opponents, the top-ranked player in Smolyar was victorious over #6 Planche by scores of 6-4, 6-1. Campbell matched Smolyar's result by the same scores with a victory at #3 against Schwartz, while Ordway picked up the lone singles point for Bates with a 7-6 (6), 6-4 win in the #6 spot over Courtney Mountifield.