MIDDLEBURY — The Middlebury College women’s tennis team on Sunday blanked visiting Amherst in an NCAA Division III regional final, 5-0, and as a result advanced for the third straight time and sixth time ever to an NCAA quarterfinal.
The 16-4 Panthers, who reached the semifinal round a year ago, will on Monday play Johns Hopkins in Chattanooga, Tenn., while 12th-ranked Amherst finishes its season at 7-10.
The Panthers were ranked No. 2 in the most recent poll, taken before they fell to Williams, 5-2, in the NESCAC final. And if they get past Johns Hopkins, Williams is their probable semifinal foe. However, the Panthers topped the Ephs, 6-3, in the regular season, and the NESCAC final was played at Williams.
Vs. Amherst on Sunday in matches played indoors, in No. 3 doubles, Alexandra Fields and Christina Puccinelli defeated Claire Carpenter and Megan Adamo, 8-2. At No. 2, Kaysee Orozco and Catherine Blazye defeated Avery Wagman and Anya Ivenitsky, 8-4, and at No. 1 Skylar Schossberger and Katherine Hughes completed the doubles sweep with an 8-4 triumph over Camille Smukler and Kelsey Chen.
At No. 4 singles, Heather Boehm defeated Adamo 6-1, 6-0, and Puccinelli clinched the match with a 6-1, 6-1 triumph at No. 2 over Ivenitsky.
Two matches being contested went unfinished. Fields led at No. 1 vs. Smukler, 6-2, 4-1, while Blayze led vs. Camilla Trapness at No. 3, 6-0, 5-1.