MIDDLEBURY — The Middlebury College women’s tennis team, top-seeded in the NESCAC tournament, fell on Sunday to host No. 2 Williams, 5-2, in the championship match, but will host an NCAA Division III Regional this weekend.
The Panthers were ranked No. 2 nationally in the most recent D-III poll, which was taken on April 27. They reached the NCAA semifinal round a year ago and are making their 14th NCAA appearance in the past 15 years.
Matches in the NCAA women’s tennis Regional will be played on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The Panthers will on Saturday play the winner of a Friday match between SUNY Geneseo (9-1) and Farmingdale State (14-4).
Also on Saturday, Amherst (6-9, and, no, that’s not a typo) will meet the winner of a Friday match between Skidmore (12-7) and Elizabethtown (13-4).
Saturday’s winners will meet on Sunday. Middlebury College officials have prepared two schedules for the event, one assuming weather allows outdoors play, and one contingent on the teams having to use indoor facilities. Those interested in viewing this weekend’s play are advised to log onto athletics.middlebury.edu for scheduling information.
In this past Sunday’s NESCAC tourney at Williams, the Ephs started by winning two of the three doubles matches. At No. 1, Linda Shin and Juli Raventos took 8-4 win at No. 1 over Skylar Schossberger and Katherine Hughes. At No. 2, Ephs Hannah Atkinson and Chloe Henderson posted an 8-4 victory over Kaysee Orozco and Catherine Blazye. At No. 3, Middlebury’s Alexandra Fields and Christina Puccinelli earned an 8-4 triumph over Julia Cancio and Emily Zheng.
At No. 3 singles play, Atkinson topped Heather Boehm, 6-0, 6-3, to make it 3-1. Blazye won, 6-4, 6-2, over Shin at No. 4 to cut the Eph lead to 3-2, but Williams won the next two matches to prevail.
At No. 6, Cancio defeated Maddi Stow, 6-4, 6-2, and then Mia Gancayco clinched the Eph win with a 6-1, 6-4 at No. 5 over Molly Paradies. The top two flights never took the court. 
Winning for the Panthers in their 5-2 semifinal victory over Bowdoin on Saturday were the doubles teams of Orozco and Blaze and Schossberger and Hughes, and Boehm, Puccinelli and Paradies in singles in straight sets.