Women's tennis wins doubleheader in home tournament

The women's tennis team kicked off its spring season with a great opening weekend by beating both Brandeis University and Wellesley College on Saturday. A solid team performance was highlighted by a particularly strong effort from the doubles teams, who won a combined 5 of 6 matches on the day and finished two games away from sweeping their competition outright. The day was highlighted by the doubles play of sophomores Victoria Aiello ’12 and Anna Burke ’12, who beat the 11th-ranked doubles team in the region.

“The team really stepped up to an opening weekend challenge of playing against one of the tougher levels of matches we have ever opened up with,” said head coach Mike Morgan.

After defeating Brandeis, the 29th-ranked team in the country, 7-2 in the morning, the team finished off a successful day by winning 6 of 9 matches against Wellesley College. While the 2-0 start is promising, the next two weeks will say a lot about just how much this team can accomplish. The Panthers have five matches over the next two weeks before the NESCAC schedule begins in earnest. Morgan, however, is excited about the test the schedule provides for his team.

“This is a season of possibilities for this team,” Morgan said. “There is a ton of fight and desire in this team, so it will be fun to see how they respond to the possibilities of facing a tough schedule.”

Nonetheless, the two wins this past weekend are a step in the right direction for a team that has set lofty goals for itself this year.
“We are really focusing all our energy on winning NCAAs,” said Alyssa Puccinelli ’12. “We know that if we put in the work we definitely have the potential.”

For a team with more first-year players than juniors and seniors combined, such high expectations are encouraging for the future of the program. But as Puccinelli argues, there is no reason this team cannot win now.

“Our doubles have definitely improved from last year, which gives us a great basis,” said Puccinelli. “Our five [first-years] really stepped up.”

If the Panthers can continue to play to the standard they have set, it will be a result not only of the team’s talent, but also an indication of the tremendous work ethic the women have displayed.

“This has been the hardest working team I have coached in my time at Middlebury,” Morgan said. “They are putting themselves in a good position to face the schedule ahead of them.”

That schedule will be taking the team to Boca Raton, Fla. for the week of spring break, where the Panthers have matches scheduled with St Thomas, Northwood University, Palm Beach Atlantic, Lynn University, and Cornell. A strong week of match play will prime the team for its NESCAC schedule and provide another building block for what should be a very successful spring.