MIDDLEBURY — The Middlebury College women’s tennis team had a big weekend, improving to 9-1, 2-0 in NESCAC play, with three home victories, including one over previously undefeated Emory, which entered Sunday’s match as the top-ranked team in NCAA Division III.
The Panthers defeated Emory on Sunday, 6-3, and on the same day topped NESCAC foe Connecticut, 9-0. On Saturday the Panthers, ranked No. 5 in last week’s poll, edged visiting No. 6 Wesleyan, 5-4.
Against Emory the Panthers swept the three doubles matches. At No. 1 Heather Boehm and Ann Martin Skelly defeated Ysabel Gonzalez-Rico and Defne Olcay, 8-4; at No. 2, Katherine Hughes and Skylar Schossberger defeated Emma Cartledge and Daniela Lopez, 8-2; and at No. 3 Christina Puccinelli and Maddi Stow defeated Christina Watson and Stephanie Taylor, 8-7 (11-9).
Picking up victories for the Panthers in singles were Boehm at No. 2, 6-1, 6-4, over Lopez; Puccinelli at No. 3, 6-4, 6-3, over Olcay, and Schossberger at No. 4, 6-0, 6-1, over Lauren Yoon.
Against Connecticut the Panther doubles teams all cruised to wins, with the closest match being 8-4. Boehm and Skelly played at No. 1, Puccinelli and Stow at No. 2, and Emily Bian and Nora Dahl at No. 3.
In singles Boehm at No. 1, Hughes at No. 2, Schossberger at No. 3, Stow at No. 4, Bian at No. 5 and Ruhi Kamdar at No. 6 all posted straight-set wins. The Camels picked up no more than two games in any set.
Wesleyan (8-2) gave the Panthers a tougher challenge on Saturday. Middlebury took two out of three doubles matches. At No. 1 Boehm and Skelly defeated Wesleyan’s Victoria Yu and Kristina Yu, 8-2, and at No. 2 Hughes and Schossberger defeated Wesleyan’s Venia Yeung and Polina Kiseleva, 8-2. At No. 3 Wesleyan’s Alissa Nakamoto and Alexis Almy defeated Puccinelli and Stow, 8-5.
In singles, Middlebury picked up its wins at No. 1, where Boehm defeated Victoria Yu, 6-2, 6-0; at No. 3, where Puccinelli defeated Kristina Yu, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3; and at No. 5, where Stow clinched the match by defeating Nakamoto, 6-2, 6-4.