MIDDLEBURY, Vt. -- The Middlebury College Panthers men's tennis team swept all three doubles matches and held convincing leads in the six singles matches en route to a 5-0 win over the University of Southern Maine Huskies in the second round of the 2007 NCAA Division III men's tennis championship Saturday afternoon at Middlebury College.

The loss eliminated USM from the NCAA tournament and concludes the Huskies' stellar season with a 9-3 record. Middlebury, winners of its last 15 matches, improves to 19-1 overall and advances to the regional final on Sunday (12:00 p.m.). The Panthers will face Amherst College. Amherst defeated M.I.T., 5-0, in the other semifinal match Saturday.

Middlebury won the three doubles matches, and the first set of all six singles matches losing just two games. Freshman Andrew Thomson (W. Bloomfield, Mich.) earned the first singles point for the Panthers defeating USM sophomore Derek Stevenson (Raymond, Maine) 6-0, 6-0 in the no. 5 singles slot. Middlebury wrapped up the victory with a 6-0, 6-0 win at sixth singles. Junior Filip Marinkovic (Toronto, Ontario) downed USM freshman Ian Carey (Milo, Maine) for the deciding point.

Completing one of its most successful seasons in the history of the program, the 2007 Huskies finished the season with a team-record .750 winning percentage with a 9-3 record and an unblemished 6-0 mark in the Little East Conference. Southern Maine captured the 2007 Little East Conference championship to earn its first-ever bid into the NCAA tournament. This year's
championship was the Huskies fourth LEC crown in five years, and their third consecutive (2005, 2006 - co-champions - and 2007).

NCAA Tournament - Second Round
Middlebury, Vt.

Middlebury 5, Southern Maine 0
Doubles:
3. Filip Marinkovic/Conrad Olson (M) def. Ian Carey/Kazan Prindle (SM), 8-1
2. Kevin Bergesen/Andrew Thomson (M) def. Chris Chaffee/Derek Stevenson (SM), 8-1
1. Alex Scott/George Mayer (M) def. Craig Spann/Josh Warren (SM), 8-3

Singles:
5. Thomson (M) def. Stevenson (SM), 6-0, 6-0
6. Marinkovic (M) def. Carey (SM), 6-0, 6-0
1. Scott (M) led Spann (SM), 6-0, 4-0
2. Olson (M) led Warren (SM), 6-1, 5-1
3. Mayer (M) led J. Chaffee (SM), 6-0, 4-0
4. Bergesen (M) led C. Chaffee (SM), 6-1, 5-0