MIDDLEBURY — The Middlebury College men’s tennis team coasted to a victory in the NCAA Division III regional it hosted this past weekend to advance to the Elite Eight at Kalamazoo College from May 20 to 22.
The 18-6 Panthers will face NESCAC foe Wesleyan (16-4) in a quarterfinal, with Emory (17-2) almost certainly next in a semifinal. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (29-1) and Amherst (16-4) are the top seeds in the other half of the bracket.
Middlebury split two matches with Wesleyan this spring, losing in the regular season, but prevailing in the NESCAC semifinal round on the way to their playoff championship. The Panthers similarly avenged an earlier loss to Amherst in the NESCAC final. Middlebury lost at Emory during their spring break trip.
At this past weekend’s NCAA regional, the Panthers dismissed M.I.T. in Saturday’s final after defeating Goucher in a Friday second-round match. They received a first-round bye.
On both days the Panther doubles teams of Lubomir Cuba and Peter Martin at No. 1, Noah Farrell and Alex Vanezis at No. 2, and Andre Xiao and Nate Eazor at No. 3 posted solid wins.
Cuba at No. 1 and No. 4 singles player Adam Guo clinched the regional final vs. M.I.T. on Saturday with straight-set wins.