Courtesy Middlebury Athletic Communications

LEWISTON, Maine - The Middlebury men's tennis team played its final match of the season as they lost a heartbreaker to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps by a final score of 5-4 in the NCAA third-place match. The Panthers end their season with an 18-7 record with their sixth straight trip to the NCAA semifinals.

Middlebury fell behind 2-0 in doubles play with losses at #1 and #3. Rich Bonfiglio and Andy Peters were defeated by Ronald Wu and Mike Starr 8-4 in the #3 slot, while Filip Marinkovic and Andrew Thomson fell 8-4 to Guillaume Schils and Lawrence Wang in the top slot. The Panthers got on the board at #2 as Chris Mason and Andrew Lee were 9-7 winners over Ben Hough and Eric MacColl.

Claremont took a 3-1 lead as Wang defeated Lee at #1 singles, 6-3, 6-1. Marinkovic won a tight match at #2 over MacColl to make it a 3-2 match with a 6-4, 7-5 win. Sabater defeated Peters 6-2, 6-4 at #4, leaving Claremont just one point away from the win at 4-2. Middlebury did not go away as Peter Odell out-lasted Hough at #6 singles 6-2, 1-6, 6-2. Bonfiglio tied the match at 4-4 with a 6-4, 7-6 (5) win over Brockett at #5, leaving the outcome to be decided by Starr and Thomson at #3. Starr edged out a 7-6 (10) win in a tie-breaker in the first set, before earning a 6-2 win to seal the match in the second set.

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 5, Middlebury 4

Doubles
1 - Guillaume Schils/Lawrence Wang (CMS) def. Filip Marinkovic/Andrew Thomson (Middlebury) - 8-4
2 - Chris Mason/Andrew Lee (Middlebury) def. Ben Hough/Eric MacColl (CMS) - 9-7
3 - Ronald Wu/Mike Starr (CMS) def. Bonfiglio/Peters (Middlebury) - 8-4

Singles
1 - Lawrence Wang (CMS) def. Andrew Lee (Middlebury) - 6-3, 6-1
2 - Filip Marinkovic (Middlebury) def. Eric MacColl (CMS) - 6-4, 7-5
3 - Mike Starr (CMS) def. Andrew Thomson (Middlebury) - 7-6 (10), 6-2
4 - Drew Sabater (CMS) def. Andrew Peters (Middlebury) - 6-2, 6-4
5 - Rich Bonfiglio (Middlebury) def. Russell Brockett (CMS) - 6-4, 7-6 (5)
6 - Peter Odell (Middlebury) def. Ben Hough (CMS) - 6-2, 1-6, 6-2