Women's tennis drops duel

Author: Heather Wright

The Middlebury College women's tennis team, currently number seven in the nation, faced a tough Amherst team, ranked number two in the nation, in their first match since their return from California. The Panthers suffered a disappointing loss on Sunday by a score of 7-2. Amherst won five of six singles matches and two out of three doubles matches on their way to the win.

"Amherst is probably the strongest team in the nation right now, and while ability-wise there is little separating us from them, they showed up to play yesterday and were committed to winning matches in a way that we were not," said Co-Captain Maren Messing '06.

The three doubles matches were really close, however, only the number two doubles team of Amanda Berck '08 and Amy Roche '07 came out on top with an 8-6 win. Berck and Roche have "consistently looked really unbeatable," said Messing. Both Claire Smyser' 07 and Jackie Ross '07 at number one doubles and Emily Holick '07 and Messing at number three, lost in close matches, 8-5 and 8-6, respectively.

"We hope to regain the doubles domination that we had last year, where we basically were able to start out each match up 3-0," commented Messing.

Roche was the only Panther able to hand Amherst a defeat in singles action. She had a great win over the Lord Jeffs' Tristan Hedrick at number two singles. Holick, at number five singles, went three sets with an Amherst first-year, Monica Snyder, in a tough match, but fell in the third set.

The Panthers were dissatisfied with their loss to Amherst. However, Middlebury believes they should benefit from the loss in the long run. They had not played a match since returning from California, but in the coming weeks, they will have matches at least once a week. In the next three weeks, they host Williams, Bowdoin and the NESCACs so the Panthers have a lot to look forward to. If they learn from this most recent loss against Amherst and continue to improve during their practices, they will continue to be the threat they have already proven themselves to be. Middlebury will also face Amherst again during NESCACs and the team is eager to get revenge.

The Panthers are also looking forward to getting co-captain Lauren Ready '05 back into the lineup in the coming weeks. She has been out all season due to a foot injury and her return will help strengthen Middlebury's ladder and provide senior leadership.

The Middlebury women's tennis team faces Williams next on Saturday, April 16 at home. Williams is currently ranked number 19 in the nation. The match against the Ephs begins at 11 a.m. at the Proctor Courts.