Women’s Tennis Opens With Three Wins

For the first time since last May, the Middlebury women’s tennis team was able to experience the thrill of a dual match. Head coach Mike Morgan wanted a strong start to the season, and he got his wish as his team took all three matches this weekend as the Panthers dominated their opponents with final match scores of 8-1 against Brandeis, 7-2 versus Trinity and an 8-1 win against Bates.

On Saturday morning, the Middlebury women opened up against Brandeis and took a 2-1 lead after doubles. The Panthers went on to sweep the singles matches. Ria Gerger ’16 and Margot Marchese ’16 made their debut in singles play and came up with impressive scores of 6-4, 6-1 and 6-0, 6-0, respectively.

A few hours after blanking Brandeis, the Panthers had to keep their game faces on as they faced fellow NESCAC school, Trinity. The doubles started in an even more impressive fashion, taking all three doubles matches. Lauren Amos ’16 won in her first dual match alongside fellow first-year Marchese in the no. 3 doubles place. Katie Paradies ’15 won her second singles match of the day with a score of 6-2, 6-1. Lok Sze Leung ’15 and Dorrie Paradies ’14 also won their singles matches in straight sets.

It was an early start again on Sunday, as the Panthers faced off against Bates. Middlebury won two out of the three doubles contests, including Gerger and Leung’s third consecutive 8-1 win of the weekend at the no. 2 doubles spot. Brittney Faber ’13 and Leah Kepping ’13 finished off the weekend at no. 1 doubles spot with an impressive 8-1 victory.

The team of Faber and Kepping showed their prowess this weekend, winning two out of their three matches. Faber’s finishes were made more impressive by the fact that she has recovered from a torn ACL that she experienced at the NCAA tournament last May, coming back for her final season with the team. With two wins already at the no. 1 spot, Faber and Kepping are only going to improve.

With two of the six singles starters sick or injured, the Panthers had to look to their other teammates to step in at the no. 5 and no. 6 positions. Playing at no. 5 was first-year Sadie Shackelford ’16 and at no. 6 was DeeDee Myers ’13. Both came away with wins in their first matches of the year. At the no. 3 position, Kepping fell in the first set, but pulled through 2-6, 6-2, 6-2. Despite missing several top players, the team proved their depth in their convincing win.

“It was a great start to the season,” Kepping said. “We brought a strong presence and tons of energy to each match. Our first-years and sophomores were really confident and showed that they will bring a lot to the table this year ... We are striving to be the best competitors.”

After a successful weekend, the women’s tennis team looks to build on their performances this past weekend. They have just under two weeks to fine-tune their games before heading to California for their spring break trip. The trip consists of five matches, including one against the number one-ranked team in the country and fellow NESCAC school, Williams.

“Everybody has a couple of projects to work on [during] the next two weeks, and competing was the best way to realize what we should work to improve,” Paradies said. “We cannot wait for a great spring break and to continue to put our games to the test.”