Women’s Tennis Plays Well on Home Courts

The women’s team concluded its fall season at the Middlebury Invitational Women’s Tennis Tournament from Friday to Sunday, Oct. 20 to 22, on Proctor Tennis courts and in the Nelson Recreational Center. The Panthers competed against Williams, Case Western Reserve, and Brandeis in a form of hidden duals.

Middlebury faced Case Western Reserve in doubles matches on Friday, where the team of Katherine Hughes ’20 and Skylar Schossberger ’20 defeated the team of Nithya Kanagasegar and Madeleine Paolucci 8–6.

On Saturday Middlebury competed in doubles and singles matches. In doubles against Brandeis, all three Middlebury pairs edged out their competition. Hughes and Schossberger defeated the team of Sabrina Ross Neergaard and Keren Khromchenko 8–3, while Catherine Blayze ’20 and Molly Paradies ’19 claimed a victory over Michele Lehat and Lauren Bertsch 8–5. The team of Ann Martin Skelly ’21 and Emily Bian ’21 triumphed over Nina Cepeda and Rachel Zubrinsky in a score of 8–4.

In the singles matches against Williams, the Panthers claimed two victories. Heather Boehm ’20 soundly defeated Leah Bush 6–4, 6–1, and Schossberger picked up a 6–3, 7–5 victory over Sasha Cayward. The Ephs claimed the other four singles victories, ultimately beating the Panthers 4–2.

Saturday afternoon featured singles matches against Brandeis, and the Panthers could not be stopped. Middlebury won all five matches, with Boehm defeating Ross Neergaard 6–1, 6–4, and Hughes claiming a victory over Khromchenko 7–6 (5), 5–7, 10-2. Schossberger cruised past Lehat 6–0, 6–3, while Paradies defeated Bertsch 6–1, 6–0. Bian rounded out the day with a 6–3, 6–0 victory over Zubrinsky.

On Sunday, the Panthers competed against Williams in doubles matches and Case Western Reserve in singles. The team of Hughes and Schossberger defeated Chloe Henderson and Rachel Cross 8–5, while Boehm and Paradies claimed a victory over Bush and Emily Zheng in a score of 9–8(6). So, while Williams defeated the Middlebury in singles, the Panthers had the upper hand in doubles, winning two out of three matches against the Ephs.

In singles against Spartans, Hughes took down Kanagasegar 6–2, 7–5, Boehm cruised past Paolucci 6–2, 6–1, Paradies edged out Cepeda 6–0, 6–3, and Bian finished the weekend with a victory over Peyton Young in a score of 7–5, 2–6, 10–6.

Overall, Middlebury won 17 out of 25 matches in its last tournament of the fall season, and every Panther that competed won at least one match.