Middlebury, Vt. — The Colby Men's Tennis team traveled to take on #17 Middlebury College on Saturday afternoon, falling 7-0 to the Panthers. Despite the scoreline, the Mules pushed several matches to the brink, forcing tiebreakers and extended sets against one of the top programs in the NESCAC.
In doubles action, Colby proved they could hang with the Panthers' depth. At the No. 1 spot,
Jason Daly and
Marco Ziets-Segura battled to a close 7-5 finish against Middlebury's Thehan Wijemanne and Reif Larsen. The No. 3 pair of
Kevin Mortimer and
Sean Wang also kept their match within reach before falling 6-4, as the Panthers secured the early 1-0 advantage.
Singles play was highlighted by two marathon matches where the Mules refused to back down. At the No. 1 position,
Jason Daly went toe-to-toe with Julian Wu, pushing the second set into a tiebreaker before narrowly falling 6-3, 7-6 (7-5).
The most grueling battle of the day occurred at the No. 5 spot, where
Bilal Asim engaged in a high-stakes duel with Anand Sahasrabudhe. Asim took the first set into a tiebreaker and fought through a deep second set, ultimately falling in a 7-6 (7-2), 7-5 heartbreaker. Elsewhere in the lineup,
Rhys Spano and
Matthew Jeong showed grit in their respective matches, though Middlebury's consistency across the board allowed them to sweep the singles points.
Colby (6-9, 4-5 NESCAC) continues its road swing tomorrow, Sunday, April 26, with another tough conference matchup against Williams College.
