The Polar Bears fell 6-3 to Middlebury last Saturday, bringing an end to their seven-match win streak.
The match was very close, with the No. 11-ranked Polar Bears winning two of the three doubles matches and the No. 4-ranked Panthers winning five of the six singles matches.
Coach Colin Joyner asserted that the team had a winning strategy coming in to the match, which was very clear from its strong wins in the No. 1 and No. 2 doubles positions.
The combos of Oscar Pena '12 with Jamie Neely '10 and Stephen Sullivan '11 with senior co-captain Alex Caughron both played well, posting 8-6 wins over tough competition.
After a strong start in doubles play, the team started to hit some challenging obstacles. Pena, playing at the No. 2 singles position, lost 6-3, 6-0 against a tough opponent who seemed never to miss. First year Josh Cranin was also dismissed with a 6-3, 6-0 loss at the No. 4 position.
Sullivan had some tough luck against a difficult player, Conrad Olsen. Sullivan was up a break and serving for the set at 5-4 when Conrad had two lucky points in which the ball caught the net and dropped over. Oslen took the match 7-5, 6-3.
Tyler Anderson '10 also lost in straight sets, while senior co-captain Alex White took his match to a third set tie-break before losing. The sole win in singles play came from Caughron.
Winning in doubles was definitely a confidence booster, assured Joyner.
"Our Middlebury match was a good experience for the guys," he said. "We'll be hungry for another shot at them which will likely happen at NESCACs or in the NCAA tournament."
This weekend will be jam-packed with games, starting with a non-conference match at MIT on Friday, followed by matches against No. 6-ranked Amherst and No. 5-ranked Williams on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
Sullivan is looking forward to the games this weekend, which will be good training as the season approaches NESCAC play and the NCAA's.
"Amherst and Williams are always tough teams, so I'm sure we'll have some good matches," he said.
Joyner also sees the upcoming matches as a good learning experience for the team.
"These regular season matches are all about learning about our toughest competition and seeing where we need to focus our work to beat them," he said.