The top-ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's tennis squad handed the 15th-ranked Middlebury men's tennis team its first loss of the season with a 5-2 result on Saturday in California. The match closed the Panthers' annual trip to the West Coast.
HIGHLIGHTS
- The teams went back and forth in doubles action. Thehan Wijemanne and Reif Larsen claimed a 6-3 decision at #1 before the pairing of Advik Mareedu and Caleb Settles countered with the same score in the second slot.
- Anirudh Reddy and Henry Wilson secured a 7-5 victory in the third position to push the Athenas to a 1-0 advantage.
- CMS came out firing in singles action, claiming consecutive straight-set decisions at #1 (6-1, 6-2) and #4 (6-4, 6-1) for a 3-0 lead.
- Henry Wilson clinched the match for the hosts with his 6-1, 6-4 result in the fifth slot.
- Wijemanne and Sibi Raja battled at #3. Raja squeaked out a 7-6 (7-4) result in the opener before a 6-3 decision secured the fifth point of the match.
- The final two flights were three-set marathons. Anand Sahasrabudhe and Settles split the first and second frames. The Middlebury player held strong, grabbing an 11-9 result in the superbreaker to put the Panthers on the board.
- Noah Lewis dropped the opening set by a 7-6 (7-3) score in his match at #6, but rallied with a 6-2 triumph and a 10-6 superbreaker victory to finalize the 5-2 showing.
NOTES
- Middlebury is the fourth NESCAC team to take at least two points from the Athenas this season.
- CMS and the Panthers squared off for the 21st time.
Middlebury returns to Vermont for its first home match of the campaign against #21 Williams on Saturday at 12:00 p.m.
