Men’s Tennis Registers NCAA Tourney Victory
The men’s tennis team won in the opening round of the NCAA Division III Men’s Tennis Tournament with a 5-0 win over Salem State College at Middlebury College on Friday afternoon. The victory is their first win in the tournament since 2001.
MIT took a 3-0 lead early with wins in all three doubles contests. Peden P. Nichols ’09 and Jonathan F. Farm ’08 quickly posted an 8-3 decision in the three doubles position. Eric A. Beren ’08 and Ken Van Tilburg ’11 along with Kevin Pang ’11 and David E. Iba ’09 outlasted their opponents, 8-6 and 9-7, respectively.
In singles play, Van Tilburg won 6-0, 6-0 in the two singles slot. Iba quickly followed with a 6-1, 6-2 victory at six singles, giving MIT a 5-0 lead. The Engineers were up in all four of the remaining matches, but play was halted since MIT had already clinched the match.
MIT’s tournament run came to an end in the second round with a 5-0 loss to host Middlebury College on Saturday. Middlebury swept the doubles as Nichols and Farm were edged 9-7 and Pang and Iba lost in a tiebreaker 9-8 (8). Pang also lost 6-1, 6-1 in the three singles slot while Nichols was defeated by the same score at four singles to seal the match for Middlebury.