Midd swings through south Panthers split 2-2 during spring break meets

Author: Michael McCormick

Middlebury women's tennis has three wins and two losses thus far in their spring season, as they played an indoor match at home before spring break and then headed south for warmer weather and outdoor tennis. The Panthers beat Brandeis 9-0 in their first match of the season at home on March 11.

The Panthers practiced hard before break, and this resulted in "a glorious victory against Brandeis - an excellent confidence boost before spring break," according to Amanda Berck '08. This win came even though the Panthers had to play around an injury and a sick player. Berck, Emily Holick '07, Amy Berkman '08, Elizabeth Stone '09, Clare Burke '09 and Chandra Kurien '09 all had singles wins against Brandeis. The teams of Amy Roche '07 and Elizabeth Emery '09, Holick and Stone and Maren Messing '06 and Burke all had doubles wins. "It showed we all have the skills and talent to have each other's backs when not every teammate is well enough to complete," said Berck.

Over spring break, the Panthers traveled to Hilton Head, S.C., where they faced St. Lawrence on March 21 and the University of Chicago on March 22. The Panthers posted two more impressive wins here, beating St. Lawrence 8-1 and the University of Chicago 6-3. Roche, Berck, Holick and Stone all won singles matches against Chicago. Holick and Stone as well as Berkman and Burke won in doubles.

For the end of spring break, the Panthers moved north to Virginia, where they faced Washington and Lee and Emory. Both of these teams are among the best in the nation, and the Panthers could not pull off the dominant wins that they had in their previous matches. The team fell to Washington and Lee, ranked second in the nation, 7-2 on March 24. Roche and Holick both won matches for the Panthers in singles. The next day, the Panthers lost in a similar fashion to top-ranked Emory, 6-2.

The Panthers' next four matches are all against NESCAC opponents, including big matches against Amherst and Williams. In order to prepare for these, the Panthers are working on staying "relaxed, yet intense during matches," according to Berck.

The next competition will see Middlebury takeing to the courts this upcoming weekend against their counterparts from Connecticut College.