MIDDLEBURY, VT (May 3, 2025) – Day two of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Men's Tennis Championships saw the Tufts Jumbos face off in the semifinals after a dominant 4-0 win over No. 60 Colby College early Friday morning. Their semifinal opponent was a familiar foe, the No. 12 Middlebury College Panthers, but the Jumbos were unable to get past the Panthers in a 4-3 loss in the NESCAC semifinals at Middlebury College.
Historically, the Panthers have had the upper hand, winning 12 of the last 15 match-ups between the two programs. However, the Jumbos came into the tournament with renewed confidence, having defeated Middlebury 6-1 in a convincing home victory back in late March and holding an 11-0 record in NESCAC play this year.
Middlebury got off to a quick start at doubles and secured what would be a crucial point in the match. At No. 1 doubles,
Vuk Vuksanovic and
Javier Gonzalez were all tied up at 2-2 before Noah Laber and Thehan Wijemanne rallied off three straight games to go up 5-2. At this point, it was too much of a feat for the decorated duo of Vuksanovic and Gonzalez to come back and they lost 6-3.
The Panthers also got the best of No. 3 doubles pair
Derin Acaroglu and
Lachie Macintosh, as they fell narrowly 7-5 at the hands of Reif Larsen and Neel Epstein. The No. 2 doubles match was stopped when the doubles point was clinched.
After losing in doubles, Gonzalez came out with a vengeance at No. 2 singles. He played with an incredibly determined mindset and beat Julian Wu in straight sets 6-4, 6-3. The win today moved him to a 12-3 singles record on the year, with one of the three losses coming from Wu earlier this year.
Garv Bahl was the next Jumbo to finish at No. 6 singles. After losing the first set to Larsen 6-3, Bahl bounced back and was flawless in the second set winning 6-0. In the third and final set, Bahl was victorious, winning 6-3.
No. 4 singles was a tough match between
Andrej Djokic and Wijemanne. The first set ended up in a tiebreak where Djokic just barely squeaked it out 7-6 (10-8). Unfortunately, Djokic could not keep up with Wijemanne, losing the next two sets 6-2, 6-2.
Acaroglu found himself in a similar position at No. 3 singles. After defeating Middlebury captain Epstein 6-2 in the first set, he lost the next two sets 6-3, 7-5.
No. 1 singles saw the mighty Vuksanovic win his twelfth straight singles match of the season. He took down Laber 6-4, 6-2, evening the match at 3-3 for the Jumbos.
The deciding point came down to No. 5 singles where junior
Alex Ganchev played Hugh Hentschel. Ganchev gave it everything he had but couldn't top Hentschel losing in straight sets 6-3, 6-2.
Although the loss today was a tough blow for a team with NESCAC title hopes, the Jumbos will have a chance to bounce back next week as they are a lock for a NCAA Tournament pick. The Jumbos will find out Monday, March 5 at 12:30 p.m. where they will be in the NCAA Tournament in the NCAA Selection Show on NCAA.com.
--JUMBOS--
