MIDDLEBURY — The Middlebury College women’s tennis team won three matches at home this past weekend, including a victory over the No. 1 team in NCAA Division III. The Panthers were ranked No. 7 in the most recent coaches’ poll and improved to 9-3 with the victories. They will next travel to meet MIT on Saturday. 
On Friday the 15th, the Panther dealt No. 1 Emory (18-4) its first loss to a D-III foe, 5-4.
Middlebury won two of the three doubles matches. At No. 1, Middlebury’s Ria Gerger and Lily Bondy earned an 8-6 win over Anna Fuhr and Daniela Lopez. Emory tied the match at 1-1 when Bridget Harding and Katarina Su posted a 9-7 victory in the No. 2 spot over Kaysee Orozco and Sadie Shackelford. At No. 3, Middlebury’s Christina Puccinelli and Alexandra Fields needed a tiebreaker to get past Michelle Satterfield and Paula Castro, 9-8 (4).
In singles, Emory’s Madison Gordon tied the match with a 6-2, 6-0 win against Orozco at No. 6, while Molly Paradies gave the hosts a 3-2 advantage with a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Su at No. 5.
The Eagles took the lead at 4-3 with a 6-1, 6-2 win from Satterfield over Fields at No. 2, and a victory by Taylor Cosme (4-6, 6-4, 6-3) against Bondy at No. 3.
Middlebury rallied to win with three-set triumphs from Gerger (3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5)) over Harding at No. 1, and Puccinelli at No. 4 (4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-2) victory against Beatrice Rosen.
On Saturday, the Panthers defeated visiting No. 6 Bowdoin, 7-2. Middlebury started by winning two of three doubles matches, with Fields and Puccinelli posting an 8-0 victory at No. 3 over Pilar Giffenig and Maddie Rolph, and Shackelford and Orozco rallying to earn a 9-7 victory at No. 2 over Tess Trinka and Kyra Silitich. At No. 1, the Polar Bear duo of Joulia Likhanskaia and Tiffany Cheng earned an 8-6 triumph over Gerger and Bondy.
In singles, Bondy took a 6-0, 6-1 victory against Rolph at No. 3, while Gerger won,6-3, 6-2 win at No. 1 over Likhanskaia. Samantha Stadler earned the second point for Bowdoin with 6-4, 6-4 win at No. 6 over Shackelford.
Fields defeated Cheng at No. 2 (3-6, 6-3, 6-1); Puccinelli defeated Trinka at No. 4 (6-4, 3-6, 6-1); and Molly Paradies defeated Silitich at No. 5 (6-7 (7), 6-3, 10-3).
On Sunday, the Panthers coasted to a 9-0 win over Skidmore (8-8) to complete their 3-0 weekend. The Thoroughbreds won no more than 6 games in any of the doubles matches and did not win a singles set.