Women ace weekend competition

Author: Alex Lovett-Woodsum

Middlebury women's tennis kicked off their season this weekend with three home matches against Brandeis College, Bates College and Connecticut College. Though the team experimented with lineup and doubles combinations, the 13th-ranked Panthers romped through all three matches, winning each one by a decisive 9-0 margin.

In the first match against Brandeis, Tori Aiello '12 won a decisive singles match at the number one spot, beating Brandeis' Rachel Rosman 6-2, 6-1 to set the tone for the match. At the number two spot, Panther tri-captain Chandra Kurien '09 lost a close first set and then bounced back, winning 6-2 and 6-1 in the second and third sets. Another notable win was that of tri-captain Elizabeth Stone '09, who is recovering from a minor injury. Stone won the first set 6-0 and lost the second set 5-7 before beating Brandeis' Mackenzie Gallegos 11-9 in a super tiebreaker. Alyssa Puccinelli '12, playing at the number five spot, also won her first set 6-0, lost 5-7 and finally pulled through to win in a super tiebreaker to hold on to the team's perfect match. Tri-captain Clare Burke '09 and Whitney Hanson '11 also contributed singles wins against Brandeis.

The Panthers also showed off their doubles prowess, winning all three matches in decisive victories. At the number one spot, the veteran team of Kurien and Stone defeated Brandeis' number one team 8-4. The number two team of sisters Clare and Anna Burke '12 came together to win 8-1, and the number three team of rookies Aiello and Alex Guynn '12 closed out the match with an 8-2 victory.

Later in the day, the Panthers had a league match against Connecticut College, to whom the team didn't drop a set. In addition to Kurien's win at the number one spot and Hanson's number three victory, four first-years competed and won in singles. Puccinelli defeated Caroline Barone 6-2, 7-5 at the two spot, Hilary Cunningham '12 defeated Alicia Canteruccio 6-2, 6-2 at number four, Anna Burke won 6-0, 6-2 at number five and Guynn won 6-3, 6-1 to close out a solid day of singles play. Coach Mike Morgan experimented with doubles teams in the second match, pairing first-years Aiello and Guynn for another victory at number one, putting Clare Burke and Puccinelli together for a win at number two and pairing the young team of Cunningham and Hanson to win at the number three spot.

Sunday's match against Bates allowed the numerous first-years to once again show that they will be significant contributors to the team as the season goes on. Aiello won once again at the number one spot, followed by wins from seniors Kurien and Burke and anchored by victories from Puccinelli, Hanson and Cunningham. Puccinelli won her first set 6-3, then dropped the only set for Middlebury 3-6 before fighting back to win 7-5 against Bates' Brooke Morse-Karzen. The Burke sisters reunited at the number one doubles spot, winning their match 8-1, followed by wins by Kurien and Stone and a third doubles win for Aiello and Guynn.

Despite some worries about injuries prior to the season, the team pulled off three decisive wins this weekend, dropping only four sets in the three matches they played. "I think this weekend was a clear indication that the work we have done during preseason has paid off," said Stone. "In a strange way, the matches this weekend were tough because it is difficult to establish a rhythm and easy to fall into the trap of playing your opponent's game. The team showed that we are not only physically faster and stronger, but also mentally tenacious."

The team now awaits next weekend's matches against Berry College and Emory University, which is nationally ranked number five, to show that their hard work during preseason is paying off. Though almost half the players are first-years, they certainly showed in these matches that they are ready to compete at the collegiate level.