Women's tennis bulldozes all rivals

Author: Heather Wright

The Middlebury College women's tennis team opened the 2005 season with two decisive wins over Skidmore and Bates. The Panthers anticipate a very successful season with the help of four new first-years: Clare Burke, Elizabeth Emery, Chandra Kurien and Elizabeth Stone. Captain Maren Messing '06 believes, "The four freshmen are a huge addition to our team. They are all strong players with a ton of potential."

Middlebury only graduated one member of the team in 2005, Lauren Ready, and the junior and sophomore classes have proven to be tough competitors with the likes of Amanda Berck '08, Emily Holick '07 and Amy Roche '07. Junior Jackie Ross is out for the fall, so the team will need to step it up to compensate.

"This fall will be an important transition time for us, as we are all in new doubles teams and the lineup is quite different from last season, but everyone seems really excited and focused, so things should go well," said Messing.

For the lady Panthers first match of the season, they hosted the Skidmore Thoroughbreds on Wednesday, Sept. 14. Middlebury left no doubt in Skidmore's mind of who the better team was after a 9-0 victory. Roche, Amy Berkman '08 and Stone played number one, four and all five singles respectively, all gave up only one game throughout the course of the match, resulting in a 6-1, 6-0 victory for all three.

The remaining three singles spots were occupied by Berck at number two, Emery at number three and Kurien at six. Berck defeated opponent Stephanie Abrahms 6-2, 6-0. Fisrt-years Emery, Stone and Kurien all began their respective Middlebury careers confidently with a win.

In the doubles matches against the Thoroughbreds, the Panthers number one doubles team of Roche and Emery barely defeated Skidmore, but were able to come out with an 8-6 win. Number two (Holick and Berck) and three doubles (Messing and Burke) easily beat their opponents 8-1 and 8-0, respectively.

Middlebury showed just how capable a team they are after a second 9-0 win against the Bates Bobcats. The Panthers hosted the Bobcats on Sunday, Sept. 18. Roche, Berkman and Stone did not allow their opponents a single game, resulting in 6-0, 6-0 victories for each of them. Holick at number two faced a tough opponent, but ended up with a big singles win 7-5, 7-5.

The doubles matches continued to go well for the Panthers and have been working well together. Roche and Emery at number one doubles defeated their opponents 8-3. Number two doubles of Berck and Holick won 8-2, while number three doubles Messing and Burke had an 8-1 victory.

"Skidmore and Bates are largely warm-up matches for us, but this weekend at ITAs is important as it gives us a great chance to play against the best in the east - it's not a team tournament but more individual, and this will give players chances for some good competition," said Messing. This weekend the team travels to Bowdoin for the ITA Regionals.

The Panthers' next home match is on parents' weekend, Sunday, Oct. 2 against Tufts. With this type of competition coming to Middlebury, there is no doubt the Panthers dominance will be tested. Undoubtedly, the squad will be prepared for all who cross its path to the postseason.