Middlebury won its seventh NESCAC Championship and its first since 2010 with a 5-2 win over fifth-seeded Williams (12-10) in the title match on Proctor Courts. The second-seeded Panthers (18-3) received an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and will hope to host a regional when the selections are announced on Monday. The Ephs will hope for an at-large bid to the tourney after an impressive tournament showing.
Middlebury took an all-important 3-0 lead after doubles play. Chris Frost and William de Quant topped Sachin Raghavan and Brian Grodecki 8-5 at #3 to start things off. Ari Smolyar and Noah Farrell followed at #3 with an 8-4 win over Jose Raventos and Rohan Shastri. The top pairing of Middlebury's Palmer Campbell and Peter Heidrich versus Brian Astrachan and Alex Schidlovsky saw the Panthers emerge with an 8-6 victory.
Middlebury was one point away rather quickly in singles play, as Jackson Frons made quick work of Grodecki, 6-1, 6-4. Williams then mounted its comeback, winning the next two contests. Shastri put the Ephs on the board with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Farrell at #2, before Raghavan topped de Quant 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 in the fifth spot to make it a 4-2 match.
Campbell sealed the win for the Panthers at #3, defeating Schidlovsky 7-6 (4), 6-4 to clinch the title. Middlebury's Kyle Schlanger was serving for the match at #6 against Howard Weiss when the match was halted, 7-6 (2), 6-5. Smolyar was up in the top spot over Raventos, 2-6, 6-3, 3-2.