The top-ranked Middlebury men's tennis kicked off its NESCAC weekend in Maine with a 7-2 victory over Colby (10-5, 2-3) on Friday at the Alfond-Wales Courts. Middlebury, who improved to 14-1 and 4-0 in the league with its sixth-straight win, returns to action on Saturday with a 10:00 a.m. match at #4 Bowdoin. Saturday's contest between the Panthers and Polar Bears will be a rematch of the 2016 NCAA Championship match.

During doubles play, the Panthers secured two of the three points. The No. 3 duo of Timo van der Geest and Peter Martin got the visitors on the board with an 8-3 win over Colby's Shaw Speer and Cam Hillier. Carl Reid and Vlad Murad tied the score at 1-1 with an 8-6 victory in the top spot against Lubomir Cuba and William de Quant. The No. 2 flight of Hamid Derbani and Kyle Schlanger edged the Mules' Scott Altmeyer and Zale Shah by an 8-6 tally, giving Middlebury a 2-1 edge.

In singles action, the Panthers were victorious in five of the six matches. At No. 4, van der Geest gave Middlebury a 3-1 advantage when he won by scores of 7-5, 6-1 over Speer. Reid brought the Mules to within one via a 6-2, 6-1 triumph over de Quant.

The Panthers finished with four-straight victories to conclude the match. Cuba edged Murad in the top spot (6-4, 6-4), while Schlanger clinched the match when he eased by Altmeyer in straight sets at No. 3 (6-2, 7-6 (3)). In the fifth slot, Jackson was victorious against Hillier (6-1, 6-4), while Alex Vanezis rounded out the scoring with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Hallal at No. 6.