The #12/fifth-seeded Middlebury men's tennis team won the program's 12th NESCAC Championship, defeating #9/third-seeded Bowdoin 4-1 in the Nelson Recreation Center. The Panthers blanked #23/ fourth-seeded Williams 4-0 in quarterfinal action and knocked off #3/top-seeded Tufts 4-3 in the semifinals.
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• In the top spot of the doubles lineup, Noah Laber and Thehan Wijemanne took a quick 2-0 edge. The Bowdoin pair of Pieter Breuker and Kiran Garapati battled back to knot the contest at 2-2. Laber and Wijemanne stayed the course and eased to the 6-4 victory.
• At #3, Neel Epstein and Reif Larsen jumped out to a commanding 5-2 advantage. The Polar Bear tandem of Aden Dorros and Mick Tamas sliced the deficit to one (5-4), but the Panthers won the final game to secure the doubles point and the 1-0 edge.
• Bowdoin's Andrew Mendelson leveled the match claiming both sets by 6-1 scores at #6 to kick off the singles competition.
• In the fifth slot, Hugh Hentschel won the first-set tiebreaker by a 7-5 margin, before cruising 6-1 in the second to put Middlebury ahead 2-1.
• In the top spot, Laber edged Mark Kneiss 7-5 in the opener, and followed with a 6-4 triumph to make it 3-1.
• Fresh off the bench for singles action, Julian Wu clinched the championship for the Panthers with a 6-4, 6-3 win at #2. 

NOTES

• This marks Middlebury's third championship in the last four years and 12th overall.
• The NESCAC Final has featured Middlebury, Bowdoin or both in the last eight editions where the tournament was hosted in full.
• The programs have met in six of those title bouts and played for the 56th time overall.
• Wu's win was the 60th of his career, while Epstein claimed his 80th doubles victory.

The Panthers earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, and await their opponent and location when the field is announced on Monday, May 5.