Racket-wielding women to host NESCACs

Author: Heather Wright

After a decisive 9-0 victory against Bowdoin on Saturday, the Middlebury College women's tennis team finished out their regular season with a record of 12-2. The Panthers hosted the Polar Bears and sent them home without allowing them to capture a single match.

Amy Roche '07 commented, "After beating Williams 8-1 the previous weekend, we knew that if we stayed confident and focused on our games that we would hopefully get a similar result against Bowdoin. We do not like to take anything for granted though because Bowdoin has always been a competitive team and on the courts anything can happen. It is important to never underestimate your opponents, the team who comes to play and proves it on the court is the team who will successfully walk away from the match. On Saturday, it was apparent that our entire team came to play."

Middlebury's three doubles team came out strong for the second consecutive weekend and once again handily defeated their opponents. The number one doubles team of Jackie Ross '07 and Claire Smyser '07 won 8-3. Amanda Berck '08 and Roche played number two doubles and only dropped a single game, ending with an 8-1 victory. Third doubles, Maren Messing '06 and Emily Holick '07, had a closer score of 8-5, but closed it off in the end to result in a 3-0 lead going into the singles matches.

"Winning all three doubles gave our opponents the message that we were not going to let anything past us. Singles had a similar result as the doubles matches, with numbers one through four not dropping a set," said Roche.

Both the Panthers' number one and number two singles, Roche and Ross respectively, defeated their Polar Bear opponents by a score of 6-1, 6-3. Berck played number three singles and won 6-2, 6-2. Number four singles, Smyser, defeated her opponent 6-3, 6-2. Bowdoin defaulted their fifth and sixth singles matches, as the match was already decided, and therefore gave Middlebury a 9-0 sweep.

"It felt great to completely dominate a team that had given us trouble in previous years. I think that it sets the precedent for the NESCAC tournament this weekend," said Roche. Berck added, "I believe that our team next weekend at the NESCAC tournament is not only going to show everybody what an amazing team we are, but also that we've got the heart and dedication to accomplish anything we strongly desire."

The Panthers host the NESCAC tournament beginning on Friday, April 29 at noon on the Proctor courts. Middlebury has had one of their best seasons in recent history and the team looks forward to continuing their success throughout this weekend's tournament. Roche said, "We are all looking forward to competing in the NESCAC tournament this coming weekend and are ready to continue to prove, both individually and as a team, that we are the ones to beat."