Monday, 09/13/2010

The Panther men's tennis team opened the fall by hosting its annual Middlebury Invitational Tournament on campus. Middlebury dominated the event, winning all four singles titles as well as one of two doubles brackets.

Senior Andy Peters (Baltimore, Md.) captured the "A" singles brackets earning four straight set victories where he dropped just 17 of 64 games. First-year player Teddy Fitzgibbons (Mission Hills, Kan.) opened up his collegiate career on the right foot, winning the "B" singles bracket. After two comfortable wins, he battled back from 3-6 down to earned a 6-1, 11-9 win to advance to the finals, where he picked up a straight-set victory.

The "C" flight saw another first-year player, Brantner Jones (Winnetka, Ill.) pick up four straight-set victories to win the bracket. In the "D" flight, senior Mike Malhame (Douglaston, N.Y.) won two matches before earning a 4-6, 6-1, 10-7 win in the semifinal round. He captured the title with a 6-2, 7-6 (4) win in the finals.

In doubles play, senior Jeronimo Riefkohl (Munich, Germany) and Malhame advanced to the semifinals, as did Fitzgibbons and first-year player Zach Bruchmiller (San Antonio, Texas). In the "B" flight, sophomores William Oberrender (Edina, Minn.) and Alec Parower (Scarsdale, N.Y.) picked up four victories to win the bracket, 8-3 in the finals.