Women’s Tennis Cannot Take the Heat vs. 4th-Ranked Jeffs

The Middlebury women’s tennis team finished their 2014 regular season last weekend with one win and one loss, falling to fourth-ranked Amherst 0-9 on Saturday, April 26 after a 7-2 win against number-18 Tufts on Friday, April 25.

The Panthers faced Tufts in their last home match of the season. They managed to pull out a win with a 2-1 record in doubles and 5-6 record in singles. In doubles, duo Ria Gerger ’16 and Kaysee Orozco ’17 took the first match, with the second point coming from pair Lily Bondy ’17 and Alexandra Fields ’17. The Paradies sisters – Dorrie ’14 and Katie ’15 – fell narrowly in doubles in the third spot. Gerger, Orozco, Bondy and Fields were all victorious in singles as well. Dorrie Paradies grabbed the seventh point for the Panthers win.

“[The team] played a really great match against Tufts – the most challenging aspect of the weekend was carrying the positive energy and confidence from Tufts into the Amherst match,” said Fields.

The Panthers concluded their regular season with a tough loss on the road the following day to Amherst, who remained undefeated in the NESCAC.

“The loss to Amherst was definitely disappointing but now we are even more motivated to beat them next week in NESCACS,” said Field. “Each of us learned a lot about how to play and compete against the Amherst team, and I’m sure we will take that competitive and motivated energy into practice this week in preparation for the weekend.”

The Panthers now look to the 2014 NESCAC Championships, hosted by Bowdoin on May 2-4, in which the team will look to improve upon their narrow semifinal loss to Amherst in last year’s tournament.

Fields is looking forward to the tournament and the possible success it could bring for the team.

“For now our team is really focusing on performing well during NESCACs and NCAAs,” she said. “These tournaments should be really fun because other teams won’t really know what to expect from us since it will be the first time we have our full line up playing.”

The team’s performance in the NESCAC championship will determine whether or not its name is called on May 5 when the NCAA announces the Championship field.

The Middlebury men’s tennis team, ranked second in the Northeast Region behind Amherst, finished their season strong with a pair of wins over conference foes Amherst and Tufts.

The Panthers upset Amherst, ranked third nationally, in Nelson Recreational Center on April 26 with a close 5-4 score before cruising to its 10th-straight win against 24th-ranked Tufts on April 27.

In double action against Amherst, the Panthers gained a 2-1 record, with duos Ari Smolyar ’16 and Peter Heidrich ’15, along with Brantner Jones ’14 and Palmer Campbell ’16, putting points on the board for the Panthers. In singles, Alex Johnston ’14 and Smolyar added key wins for Middlebury.

The critical points came from Jones, who rallied from a losing first set to win his singles match from Amherst in three sets. With losses in singles from Jackson Frons ’16, Campbell and Courtney Mountifield ’15, the Panthers managed to scrape out a 5-4 win.

The Panthers concluded their season with a road match against Tufts. With doubles wins by Jones and Campbell, and Johnston and Andrew Lebovitz ’14, the team moved onto singles play with a substantial lead. In singles they won four matches in straight sets. Smolyar, Johston, Jones and Mountifield all picked up points for the Panthers, while Frons and Campbell conceded to their Jumbo opponents to bring the score to 6-3 in favor of Middlebury.

Like the women, the Middlebury men will travel to Bowdoin for this weekend’s NESCAC championships. With their victory over fellow championship contender Amherst, Middlebury is an early favorite for this year’s team championship. The Panthers fell 5-4 to Williams in the semifinal round of the conference championship a year ago.

The D-III team selection release for the men’s side will also be held on May 5.