The men’s tennis team traveled to Middlebury on Saturday for its first match against the Panthers since April 14, 1972. Although Wesleyan came into the battle 21-3 overall against Middlebury, the perennial power Panthers proved to be too much for the Cardinals, as Middlebury took an 8-1 decision. The team now stands at 10-6 on the season and 1-2 in the NESCAC standings.

Forced to play indoors in “The Bubble” due to rainy conditions, Wesleyan got off to a rocky start as the Panthers swept all three doubles matches. The number-one pair of Jaafar Rizvi ’09 and Matt O’Connell ’09 fell 8-2, while the No. 3 team of Paul Gerdes ’09 and Alejandro Alvarado ’09 fell 8-1. At number two, Graham Immerman ’09 and Michael Piderit ’12 had the closest match, losing 8-4.

Middlebury’s dominance continued as the teams moved on to singles matches. The No. 5 and No. 6 singles matches were reduced to a single pro set to speed up action, as the outcome of the match had already been decided. Piderit posted an 8-6 victory at No. 5 for the Cardinals’ only victory on the afternoon, while Alvarado fell by the same score at No. 6. Number-one O’Connell (2-6, 2-6), number-two Immerman (3-6, 3-6) and number-three Gerdes (6-7, 1-6) all fell in straight sets. No. 4 Rizvi took the first set 7-6 but dropped the second 3-6 before falling in the tiebreaker, 10-5.

Wesleyan now stands at 5-4 in the spring and returns to action with a match at Trinity on Wednesday.