Playing against a Division I opponent, the third-ranked Middlebury men's tennis team fell by a 5-2 score to UC-Riverside on Thursday afternoon at the Student Recreation Center Tennis Courts during its spring break trip to California. The Panthers (7-1) look to return to the win column Saturday with a match at #4 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in a rematch of the 2015 NCAA Tournament final.

The match was played under Division I rules where you must win two of the three flights in order to secure the doubles point. The Highlander team of Julian Ruffin and Sean Robles were the first off the court with a 6-3 win over Ari Smolyar and Noah Farrell at #1. Middlebury's Palmer Campbell and Hamid Derbani gave each team a doubles victory with a 7-5 win at #2 over Kyle McCann and Sean Yun, but UC Riverside's Hans Baumstark and Jack Felich secured the doubles point and 1-0 lead headed to singles for the Highlanders with a 7-6 win at #3 against Middlebury's Timo van der Geest and William de Quant. 

UC-Riverside (12-10) clinched the match with the first four points earned during singles play. Robles edged de Quant at #4 (6-4, 6-2), while Farrell fell for just third time this season (21-3) by scores of 6-2, 6-2 to Ruffin in the top slot.

Calvin Ngo clinched the match with the Highlanders' fourth point, a 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 triumph over Derbani in the fifth spot. McCann tallied the fifth point for UC-Riverside with a three-set win at #3 over Campbell (3-6, 6-3, 6-4).

Middlebury's two points came at #2 and #6, as both Panther players battled back from a set down. Smoylar lost the opening set against Yun in the second spot 6-3, but rattled off identical 6-3 scores in the second and third set respectively for the win. At #6, van der Geest dropped the first set 6-2 to Anderson Ju, but fought back with 7-6 and 6-3 tallies in the final two sets for the Panthers' second point.