In a battle of top-five ranked men's tennis teams, fourth-ranked Middlebury held off a late comeback attempt by #2 Bowdoin in singles play for a 5-4 NESCAC victory Sunday over the Polar Bears on the Proctor Tennis Courts. The Panthers (10-2, 6-0) have nearly a week off before returning to action at home Saturday against #14 Amherst.

The Polar Bears (11-1, 4-1) jumped out to an early lead in doubles, securing the first two points. The #3 duo of Chase Savage and Gil Roddy were victorious by an 8-2 count over Middlebury's Kyle Schlanger and William de Quant, while the tandem of Luke Trinka and Luke Tercek edged Ari Smolyar and Noah Farrell in the top spot, 8-5. The #2 Middlebury team of Hamid Derbani and Palmer Campbell put the Panthers on the board headed to singles with an 8-2 victory against Bowdoin's Kyle Wolfe and Jerry Jiang.

In singles action, the Panthers raced out to claim three-straight matches in straight sets. Derbani was the first to finish with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Roddy at #5, while Smolyar gave the Panthers a 3-2 advantage with a 6-2, 6-0 triumph against Trinka in the second slot. Campbell pushed the Panther edge to 4-2 with a 6-4, 6-2 win at #3 over Wolfe.

The Polar Bears responded with a pair of three-set victories to knot the match at 4-4. Grant Urken came from a set down to defeat Timo van der Geest at #6 (6-7 (7), 6-2, 6-4), while Jiang defeated de Quant at #4 (6-4, 2-6, 7-5).

The match came down to a match featuring a pair of top-10 nationally-ranked individuals, as Farrell, the nation's #1 ranked player, posted a 7-5, 4-6, 6-2 victory over 10th-ranked Tercek in the #1 slot.