The #4/fourth-seeded Middlebury men's tennis team claimed its third-straight NESCAC Championship, coming from behind to edge #11/second-seeded Bowdoin 5-4. The road to the title was a story of the underdog for the Panthers, who ended the regular season in a three-way tie at 8-2 and with the random draw of a hat were selected as the tournament's fourth seed. Middlebury used that as motivation in the tournament, blanking #20/fifth-seeded Colby 5-0, before knocking off #2/top-seeded Tufts 5-2 to advance to the title tilt. 
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• Trailing 6-3 in the second slot, Panther tandem Neel Epstein and Robby Ward battled back to cut the deficit to a pair of games (7-5), but Bowdoin pair Ethan Bradley and Pieter Breuker held on for the 8-5 victory.
• The Polar Bears grabbed the next point at #3. Joe Mairs and Julian Wu sliced the lead down to one (7-6), but the Bowdoin duo of Evan Fortier and Mark Kneiss won the final game for the 8-6 triumph. 
• Middlebury cut the advantage in half (2-1) with a hard-earned point at the top of the lineup. Behind by two (7-5), Aidan Harris and Noah Laber battled back to knot the match at 7-7 and force a tiebreaker. In extra points, the Panther pair jumped out to a 5-0 lead and secured the tiebreaker 7-5 to claim the contest.
• It took less than an hour and a half for Harris to knot the match at 2-2, earning a quick point at #2 (6-4, 6-2).
• Bowdoin took a 3-2 edge when Kneiss triumphed 6-2, 6-3 in the fourth slot.
• In the sixth spot, Zihao Yuan knotted the match at three points apiece with a thrilling three-set victory. Each set had identical 6-2 scores, with Yuan winning the first and third to secure the critical point.
• Epstein cruised to an open-set 6-3 victory at #3, but Breuker claimed the middle frame in a tiebreaker and took the third to put the Polar Bears up 4-3.
• At #5, Ward took care of business after waiting for a court to open. In the shortest match of the day, the Panther cruised 6-2 in each set to deadlock the teams at 4-4 and force a showdown at the top of the lineup.
• Knotted at 5-5 in the opening set, Laber edged Tristan Bradley 7-5. Every time Laber would increase his advantage to a two-game lead in the second, Bradley would battle back and get within one. Ahead 5-4, Laber used the momentum from Ward's win to power him through to the 6-4 triumph and secure the title for Middlebury.

NOTES

• The Panthers earned the program's 11th NESCAC Championship and third-straight title. The squad won most recently in 2019 and 2022, not competing in the abbreviated 2021 campaign due to the pandemic. 
• Laber avenged his only conference loss of the year, which had come at the hands of T. Bradley earlier in the season. He is now 13-2 on the season.
• Middlebury and Bowdoin met earlier in the year with the Polar Bears claiming a tight 5-4 win. 
• Due to weather, the match was moved indoors, with courts 2, 3, 4 and 6 beginning the singles portion.

 
The Panthers earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, and will await their opponent when the selections come out on Monday, May 1.