Middlebury Wins 2007 NESCAC Men's Tennis Championship

Courtesy Amherst Sports Information

AMHERST, Mass. -  Middlebury College won its fourth consecutive NESCAC Men's Tennis Championship Sunday morning on the campus of Amherst College, defeating the Ephs of Williams College, 7-2. The win improves the Panthers to 18-1, while the Ephs move to 14-6.

Senior tri-captains Alex Scott (Mt. Kisco, N.Y.) and George Mayer (Merion, Pa.) teamed up to win the #1 doubles match, while senior tri-captain Kevin Bergesen (Beverly, Mass.) and first-year Andrew Thomson (West Bloomfield, Mich.) followed with an 8-5 win of their own in the #2 match.

Williams' senior captain Ted Haley (Marietta, Ga.) and first-year Jeremy Weinberger (Chappaqua, N.Y.) kept the Ephs within striking distance by picking up an 8-6 win in the #3 doubles match, but it was all Middlebury in singles play. Scott, sophomore Conrad Olson (Waterloo, Belgium) and Mayer took home straight-set wins in the #1, #2 and #3 singles matches, respectively, while Thomson won the #5 match in straight sets to give the Panthers their fourth singles victory.

In the #6 singles match, junior Filip Marinkovic (Toronto, Ont.) dropped the first set to Williams' Rick Devlin (Westford, Mass.), 7-5, but won back-to-back 6-3 sets for the Panthers' fifth singles win. Junior Gary Simonette (Finksburg, Md.) dropped his first set to Bergesen, 4-6, but battled back to pick up the Ephs' lone singles victory of the day, winning 6-3 in the second and third sets.

Middlebury's path to the championship match included a first-round bye as the top seed and a semifinal win over fifth-seed Amherst College. The Panthers will resume play at the NCAA Championships, while the Ephs will hope to be among the teams receiving an at-large bid.

No. 1 Middlebury 7, vs. No. 3 Williams 2
9:00 a.m.

Doubles                  
1 - Alex Scott/George Mayer (Middlebury) def. Dan Greenberg/Bret Thacher (Williams) 8-5
2 - Kevin Bergeson/Andrew Thomson (Middlebury) def. Gary Simonette/Nick Lebedoff (Williams) 8-5
3 - Jeremy Weinberger/Ted Haley (Williams) def. Conrad Olson/Filip Marinkovic (Middlebury) 8-6 

Singles
1 - Alex Scott (Middlebury) def. Ted Haley (Williams) 7-6, 6-2
2 - Conrad Olson (Middlebury) def. Dan Greenberg (Williams) 6-2, 6-0
3 - George Mayer (Middlebury) def. Nick Lebedoff (Williams) 6-1, 6-4
4 - Gary Simonette (Williams) def. Kevin Bergesen (Middlebury) 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
5 - Andrew Thomson (Middlebury) def. Karol Furmaga (Williams) : 6-2, 6-0
6 - Filip Marinkovic (Middlebury) def. Rick Devlin (Williams) 5-7, 6-3, 6-3

2007 NESCAC MEN'S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP SEEDING
Friday, April 27, through Sunday, April 29, at Amherst, Amherst, Mass.

2007 NESCAC MEN'S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP
Hosted by Amherst College - Friday-Sunday, April 27-29

Schedule of Matches
First Round - Friday, April 27
9:00 a.m.
No. 6 vs. No. 3
No. 5 vs. No. 4

Semifinals - Saturday, April 28
9:00 a.m.
Winner of No. 5/No. 4 vs. No. 1
Winner of No. 6/No. 3 vs. No. 2

Championship - Sunday, April 29
9:00 a.m.
Semifinal Winners

Format
The top six teams in the conference shall qualify for the championship.  The championship is a single-elimination tournament with no consolation matches.  The No. 1 seed and No. 2 seed shall receive a first round bye.  All matches will be played to conclusion unless there is inclement weather or other extenuating circumstances that the tournament committee believes warrants playing to decision.

Inclement Weather (Tentative)
In foul weather, the men's No. 4/No. 5 match will begin at 8:00 a.m. inside.  Additional matches will begin one half hour after the completion of the previous match.  The men's No. 3/No. 6 match will follow the No. 4/No. 5 match, followed by women's No. 4/No. 5 and women's No. 3/No. 6.  On Saturday in foul weather, the men's top half semifinal (winner No. 4/No. 5 match vs. No. 1) will begin at 8:00 a.m. inside.  Additional matches will begin one half hour after the completion of the previous match.  The men's bottom half semifinal (winner No. 3/No. 6 match vs. No. 2) will go on second, followed by the women's top half semifinal and then the bottom half semifinal.  On Sunday in foul weather, the men's championship match will start at 9:00 a.m.  The women's match will begin at 1:00 p.m. or one half hour after completion of the women's final, whichever is later.

Selection
Teams will be selected and seeded based on the following criteria in priority order:

1. Five match standing

2. NESCAC head-to-head with tied team

3. Wins/losses against other common NESCAC opponents

4. Wins/loses against other common in-region opponents

5. Wins/loses against other common out-of-region opponents

6. Committee review over all win/loss, late season play, strength of schedule

Tournament Committee
There will be separate men's and women's tournament committees consisting of four coaches each.  Committee membership will rotate annually based on an alphabetical rotation. 

Announcement
The tournament committee will notify schools (and the Conference office) of the participating teams and seeding for the tournament.  Participating teams and seeding will be posted on the NESCAC web site after the committee has determined the final seeding and the appeal period has concluded.