Women’s tennis competes in ITA tournament

ITA Championships feature strong competition for women’s tennis

At the ITA Regional Championships held at Babson and Wellesley Colleges, the Middlebury women’s tennis team faced tough competition with varied results. The ITA’s showcased many of New England’s top ranked tennis players, and the Panthers left the tournament with more experience and determination for future events.

Middlebury competed without a few of the team’s strongest players due to semesters abroad, yet they still found success in what Coach Mike Morgan considers to be the strongest region in the nation.

In the singles bracket, Leah Kepping ’13 was the sole Panther to advance out of the first round after defeating the fifth seed from Brandeis in two sets, 6-1 and 6-3. She would go on to win two more matches, including one over the ninth seed from Bowdoin, before falling to the ITA defending champion Kristen Alotta from Williams in the quarterfinal round. Kepping was ahead in both sets 5 to 4 games, but the Williams star fought her way back in both.

“She played really well,” said Coach Morgan, who was very pleased with Kepping’s performance. “Leah put in a lot of work this summer, as did everybody. She ran into really tough opponent with Kristen Alotta in the quarters, but I think she knows what she needs to do next time. It was a good tournament for her and a good start.”

In the doubles bracket, the first-seeded Middlebury duo of Kepping and Brittney Faber ’13 cruised to the semifinal round before a loss to the eventual champions from Amherst. Captain Sally Wilkey ’12 and Dorrie Paradies ’14 competed for the first time together and played well despite just falling short to a pair from Bowdoin in the first round.

Fellow NESCAC schools Williams, Amherst and Trinity created some difficulty for the Panthers over the weekend, but Kepping left the tournament focusing on the positives.

“We still need to work on a lot of aspects of our games, but overall we fought hard and I thought we improved a lot from our tournament last weekend,” said Kepping. “Even though Brittney and I lost to Amherst in the semifinals, it is only going to motivate us more in the next couple of weeks to get revenge.”

Amherst’s freshman Jordan Brewer was crowned both the singles and doubles champion of the ITA’s this year in New England.

“Looking at our results and experiences from this tournament, our motivation and desire to improve has only increased,” said Wilkey, who is confident that her team is capable of accomplishing big things this year. “We have now seen exactly what we will be up against the rest of the fall and the spring, and we are going to do everything we can to be properly prepared. This group of girls, plus [Coaches] Mike and Karen, has everything it takes to succeed; it’s just a matter of how we put it all together.”

The Middlebury women’s tennis team hosts the Gail Smith Doubles Tournament on the weekend of Oct. 8th for its first home competition of the year.