The men's tennis team defeated Colby College on Thursday afternoon by a final tally of 8-1. Bowdoin's only loss came at the No. 2 singles position.
"We came out firing in doubles today and took a commanding 3-0 lead," said junior Michael Power. "This put us in a great position to take control of the match and we did just that clinching with two early singles wins. Everyone played particularly well and this is a big confidence booster going into this weekend's match."
Before Thursday's win, the team came up short in a loss to Amherst College this past Saturday. The 13th-ranked Polar Bears trailed the ninth-ranked Jeffs early and faced a 4-1 deficit. Bowdoin came back to make the match competitive with two straight wins but ultimately fell 5-4.
Junior Stephen Sullivan led the team, accounting for two of the four points. Sullivan won at No. 2 doubles with sophomore Nico Fenichell 8-6. In singles play, Sullivan defeated the No. 5-ranked player in the Northeast region, Austin Chafetz, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. Sullivan, currently ranked third in the Northeast, solidified his place as one of the strongest players in the NESCAC.
"The victory was important for my confidence because Chafetz is a very tough player. Although, the most important thing is that the team comes out with a victory. We played Amherst very close and if we see them again later in the season we are confident that we can beat them."
After losing two of the three doubles matches, singles play split evenly, with Bowdoin victories over Amherst at the 1, 4, and 6 positions. In the No. 4 singles match, senior captain Jamie Neely defeated Wesley Waterman 6-4, 7-6 (6). Additionally, first year Casey Grindon pulled out a three-set match against Alex Kim 4-6, 7-5, 10-6.
This weekend Bowdoin will head to Middlebury (11-2, 4-0 NESCAC) to take on the No. 1-ranked team in the country. Middlebury's top-4 players are all ranked within the top 10 of the Northeast division. The depth of their lineup will be difficult as Bowdoin will need to come out firing on all cylinders.
"Middlebury is going to be a very tough match...However, we are confident going into the match that we can compete until the very end," said senior captain Matthew Knise.
The NESCAC is one of the strongest conferences in the country this year. The team will look to pull off the upset against Middlebury College on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Middlebury. In the past few years, Bowdoin has played Middlebury down to the wire, including in the finals of the NESCAC tournament in 2008 when Bowdoin won the conference.