The #19/third-seeded Middlebury men's tennis team battled back from a 2-0 deficit on Friday, squeaking past sixth-seeded Wesleyan 4-3 in Friday's NESCAC Quarterfinals from Connecticut. With the win, the Panthers move on to Saturday's semifinals.
HIGHLIGHTS
- The sides went back and forth in doubles. Andrew Yim and Nathan Hernandez earned a 6-3 triumph at #3 over Brett Keeling and Max Litton before the duo of Harry Collomb and Chase Burke edged Thehan Wijemanne and Reif Larsen in a tiebreaker from the top spot (7-3).
- The tandem of Ryuto Saito and Chase Kasday outlasted Julian Wu and Hugh Hentschel 7-5 at #2 to grab a 1-0 lead.
- Burke increased the Cardinal advantage with a 6-1, 6-1 victory in the fourth slot to commence singles play.
- Wijemanne began the comeback, securing a convincing straight-set win (6-1, 6-3) over Keeling in the third position.
- In the fifth slot, Hentschel quickly followed suit in a 6-0, 6-1 sweep to level the match at 2-2.
- Saito tallied the third Cardinal point of the match with his sweep (6-1, 6-0) at #2.
- Middlebury made it 3-3 when Yim defeated Tommy Jani by the slimmest of margins (6-4, 6-4), claiming the final two games of each set to deadlock the match.
- Tied 5-5 in the opening set, Wu claimed consecutive games against Collomb to earn the first set 7-5. Down 3-1 in the second stanza, the senior recorded the next three to surge ahead 4-3. The Cardinal won the eighth game before the players exchanged the ensuing four, sending it to a tiebreaker. Behind 3-0, Wu ripped off seven-straight points and tallied a 7-3 decision to clinch the match.
NOTES
- Wu moved his winning streak in singles to five, while Yim pushed his to four.
- Hentschel posted his 40th career triumph as an individual, while Hernandez tallied his 10th in doubles.
- Middlebury is 3-0 against Wesleyan in the NESCAC Tournament.
The Panthers play #6/second-seeded Bowdoin in the conference semifinals on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. It is the fourth time in as many seasons that the programs will meet in the NESCAC Tournament.
