MIDDLEBURY — The Middlebury College men’s tennis team defeated visiting Skidmore, 5-1, on Saturday in an NCAA Division III Regional, and thus has advanced to the NCAA quarterfinal round for the 14th time in the past 15 years.
The 20-3 Panthers, who lost to Bowdoin in the 2016 final, will take on Gustavus Adolphus on Monday in Chattanooga, Tenn. The Panthers defeated the Gusties, 7-2, during their spring break trip.
If Middlebury wins again, they will face the winner of a quarterfinal between Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and NESCAC foe Wesleyan. The Panthers defeated CMS, 6-3, on the same trip they faced Gustavus, but Wesleyan upset Middlebury, 5-4, in the NESCAC regular season finale for both teams.
Bowdoin, which also defeated Middlebury in the NESCAC final this spring, is on the other side of the bracket, as is Williams and perennial power Emory.
The Panthers had little trouble with Skidmore (12-7) this past Sunday, although the Thoroughbreds picked up a point a No. 1 doubles when Kai Yuen Leung and John Wynne edged  Lubomir Cuba and William de Quant, 9-8 (7-4).
At No. 2 doubles, Panthers Hamid Derbani and Kyle Schlanger defeated Skidmore’s Steven Koulouris and Travis Leaf, 8-3, and at No. 3 doubles, Middlebury’s Timo van der Geest and Peter Martin topped Lucas Pickering and Nils Akesson, 8-6.
At No. 2 singles, de Quant topped Koulouris, 6-1, 6-2, and Derbani made it 4-1 with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Pickering at No. 3.Van der Geest at No. 5 by defeating Leaf, 6-2, 6-4. The remaining matches went unfinished.