MIDDLEBURY, VT (March 10, 2024) -- Juniors
Derin Acaroglu and
Vuk Vuksanovic won their doubles' match together, while also picking up singles wins Sunday against No. 3 Middlebury College, but the Panthers still edged out the No. 5 Tufts University men's tennis team 6-3 in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) play from Proctor Tennis Courts Sunday.
The Jumbos (2-2, 0-2 NESCAC) fell behind early on Sunday, as Noah Laber and Aidan Harris topped sophomores
Alex Ganchev and
Sacha Maes 8-4 at No. 2 doubles to take a 1-0 match lead. The lead for the Panthers (5-0, 2-0 NESCAC) doubled with a victory at No. 3 as Hugh Hentschel and Joe Mairs came from behind to knock off
Lachie Macintosh and
Corey Marley 8-6.
Needing a win desperately to stay in the match, Tufts' pairing with the most experience together came through with a big win as Acaroglu and Vuksanovic came from down 5-0 in the match to rally for a huge 8-7 (5) win at No. 1 doubles to make it 2-1 going to singles' play.
In singles, Middlebury quickly regained their two-match edge with a win at No. 2 but the Jumbos rallied to tie the match at three wins apiece. The second point for Tufts came from Acaroglu at No. 4 singles, as he took the first set 7-5, before dropping the second 6-2. In the decisive third set, Harris of Middlebury earned the first two games but Acaroglu earned three straight breaks along with holding three times to pick up the 6-2 win in game three.
The Jumbos tied the match at three as Vuksanovic had to shake off a first set 6-4 loss. In the second, Vuksanovic shook off an early break to rattle off six of the next seven games to even the match with a 6-3 set victory. In the third set, both players were deadlocked at five but Vuksanovic earned the key break to pick up the 7-5 win in the 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 triumph.
Middlebury would earn a straight set win at No. 3 singles, and seconds after that ended the Panthers posted the clinching victory at No. 6 with a 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (0) win by Hentschel over Ganchev. In the final match of the day, Neel Epstein bested first-year
Garv Bahl 6-3, 7-5 at No. 5.
The Jumbos will now be off for eight days before heading out to California to battle No. 15 Johns Hopkins University in Claremont, CA Monday, March 18 2 p.m. local time.
--JUMBOS--
