Women’s Tennis Team Blows by Jumbos

Security concerns following the marathon bombings in Boston forced the Middlebury women’s tennis team to cancel its match against MIT and postpone another against Tufts to Sunday, April 21.

The Panthers ultimately defeated the Jumbos 7-2, improving their record to 9-4 overall.

“While we had to be flexible in waiting to see what transpired with the tragic events in Boston, we had some great extra practices and had a great match against a scrappy Tufts team on Sunday,” said head coach Mike Morgan.

The Middlebury women started off the match well by taking two of the three doubles points, at the no. 2 and 3 positions. The second doubles team of Lok Sze Leung ’15 and Ria Gerger ’16 won by a convincing score of 8-4, while first-years Lauren Amos ’16 and Margot Marchese ’16 dominated their opponents 8-3 in the third doubles match. The first-year pair improved their record to 8-2 on the season with the victory as the combination of Amos’s fiery play along with Marchese’s accurate and consistent shots have worn out their opponents. Middlebury’s lone doubles loss came in the no. 1 match as Brittney Faber and Leah Kepping lost a close contest by a score of 8-6.

Middlebury continued its dominant play by taking five of six singles matches, with the sole loss in the no. 4 match, by a tight score of 4-6, 7-5, 10-8. In the top singles match Leung kept her nerve, beating Lindsay Katz 6-0, 7-6 (2). After Leung blanked her in the first set, Katz came out firing in the second, but Leung’s tricky lefty game eventually took a toll on her opponent. Gerger, in the no. 2 position, downed here opponent 6-3, 7-5, improving her remarkable singles record to 10-2. Gerger’s penetrating serve combined with her tremendous baseline and net play gives her multiple ways to win points, much to the demise of many of her opponents. Senior Leah Kepping ’13, meanwhile, only conceded three games during her match, leaving the court with a 6-3, 6-0 win. Another Middlebury singles victory came from the no. 4 position, where Marchese used her improved serve and anticipation to fight her way to a 3-6, 6-4, 12-10 win.

After a long road back from surgery, Faber is once again in the singles lineup. Playing singles for the first time since May 2012, Faber revealed her mental strength with 6-4, 6-0 victory. A strong all-round player, Faber had success pushing her opponent behind the baseline and finishing points at the net.

“Brittney always brings great fight to her matches,” added Morgan.

The women host a pair of matches Saturday, April 27 and Sunday, April 28, competing against Skidmore and top-ranked Amherst, respectively. These mark the final regular season matches. Middlebury will travel to Amherst a week later for the NESCAC championships.

The Panthers enter the stretch run of the season having won three of their last four matches and playing strong individual tennis.

“Every player improved in at least one area, but most importantly they all played with determination and owned their individual matches,” said Morgan. “It was great to see.”