Knotted at four points apiece, the contest came down to a five-game thriller as the #17 Middlebury men's squash team came up just short in a 5-4 decision at #20 Colby.
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• The Mules jumped out to a 2-0 lead with victories at #6 and #2. 
• At the eight position, Aditya Kothari fell behind 2-0 but battled back to knock off his opponent (5-11, 12-14, 11-9, 13-11, 11-5) and put the Panthers on the board. 
• Colby grabbed a straight-game win at #1 to move ahead 3-2, but David Zhao returned the shutout in the ninth slot to snag a point for Middlebury.
• The Panthers continued the momentum, with Gabe Feinstein triumphing 3-1 at #4 and Charlie Clifford shutting out his opponent in the seventh slot to take their first lead of the match at 4-3.
• The last pair of points came down to tightly contested matches in the fifth and third spots, respectively. Both 3-2 victories went to Colby as the Mules edged Middlebury 5-4.

NOTES

• The programs played for the 20th time with Colby earning its fifth win in the series.
• With the win, Zhao improves to 5-0 this season.

Middlebury closes its eight-match road trip against Williams on Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. before returning to the Bostwick Family Squash Courts this weekend.