Box Score Waterville, Maine - Following a matchup against Williams the day before, the Colby Men's Tennis team had another NESCAC showdown at home against #7 ranked Middlebury. 

Doubles was close from the start, with back-and-forth sets on all three courts. At the #2 position, Middlebury was victorious 6-2. At the #3 spot, the Panthers won a tight 6-4 set to secure the opening doubles point. At the #1 position, a marathon set was played. Colby's tandem of senior captain Jake Cohen and first-year Jason Daly saved an astounding 11 match points, before falling in a near one-and-a-half-hour set 7-6(11). 

Despite the Panthers having the momentum heading into singles play, the Mules started extremely strong, securing the opening set on three of the four courts. First-year Marco Ziets-Segura was the first to finish his match, defeating his Middlebury opponent in dominant fashion, 6-4, 6-2 at the #4 spot. Ziets-Segura produced incredible shotmaking on his forehand, giving his opponent no time to answer. With the dual match tied up at 1-1, the #1 spot was the next to finish. In an all-out battle, Cohen fell to his Middlebury opponent 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 in a nearly two-and-a-half-hour match. Daly also had an extremely close match, barely losing in straight sets to his Middlebury opponent 7-5, 7-5 in two and a half hours. 

With the Mules down 1-3 now, senior captain Josh Kaplan picked up a clutch win at the #6 position, bringing the match to 2-3 overall. With incredible defensive skills and point construction, the senior captain outworked his opponent, winning 6-2, 3-6, 6-2. Unfortunately for Colby, the Panthers answered this win with straight-set wins at the #3 and #5 positions, clinching the dual match 5-2. 

Despite an extremely close contest, the Mules fell just short against the #7 ranked team in the country. Colby will look to continue its improved play into next weekend's matches against two NESCAC opponents, Amherst on Saturday and Hamilton on Sunday.