Women's Tennis Shows Promise With Final Win

Author: Els Van Woert

The Panthers closed out their season this past Friday steamrolling over Smith College. Winning eight matches and dropping only one in a tight three-setter, Middlebury went out showcasing their prowess.

In the first three singles matches, Sandy Spring '04 closed her season with a decisive victory, and Libby Meyers '04 held strong with a 6-3, 6-4 win. In the closest match up of the day by far, Kristin Baker '04 went to three sets, finally falling in a tiebreaker in the third. Jeannie McIntosh '05, Nina Popel '04 and Jena Siegel '04 all kept their opponents to love in both sets of three swift matches.

Victory came easily for doubles team of Siegel and Meyers, with the former's deft touch and placement, and the latter's consistency and strong put-aways. Spring and Popel had a tougher match at number one doubles, playing physically looming Smith opponents who used their size to the advantage at the net. Yet the athletic Popel and smart consistent Spring overcame the challenge with a score of 8-6. Baker and Lauren Ready '05 overwhelmed the opponent much the same with a final of 8-1.

So ends another successful year of tennis for the Panther women. Although a tough away weekend playing Wesleyan and Wellesley and falling in these very even matches made it so the Panthers would have to overcome perennial power Williams in the NESCACs if they were to get an NCAA bid — something that not one other team at the division tournament could come close to — much was accomplished this season in building for future years. Middlebury overcame some very viable competitors and placed above Amherst and right up with Bowdoin, Tufts and Trinity at NESCACs, and won all but three matches this spring.

The women are a young group of only first-years and sophomores and have much time in which to develop even more as players and gain collegiate match experience. The team bond was evident and cheered spectators at every match. The women were fun to watch and demonstrated extraordinary talent and persistence in matches. The Lady Panthers know what it means to represent Middlebury and have added to the athletic pride and spirit of our school. As Baker commented, "We really came together as a team and put much hard work into the season. Hopefully this comraderie and dedication will continue into future years and seasons, and we'll continue to improve. We started and finished strong."