MIDDLEBURY — The Middlebury Union High School tennis teams continued to enjoy their springs last week, as the young Tiger girls split two matches to remain at .500, that a year after winning just once, and the Tiger boys won twice to improve to 7-2.
Tiger girls’ Coach Jill Dunn said not only the increased success of many players who first picked up the sport in 2018 has made this spring enjoyable — the team also gets along well and is dedicated to improving its skills.
“The team spirit is great. The camaraderie is great. They’re becoming more competitive in their attitudes, and they’re having more fun with it,” Dunn said. “It’s great watching the growth, from brand new beginners last year, really fun.”
Of course, it doesn’t hurt that their work is paying off with better results, she said. For example, the Tigers lost on the road to a typically competitive Montpelier team on Wednesday, 4-3, before overwhelming a rebuilding Harwood program at home on Thursday, 6-1, when players up and down the ladder showed steady, competent tennis.
“We’ve had some nice close matches, in addition to some wins,” Dunn said. “Last year we were able to find success in our losses. Now it’s nice to be able to have some wins.”
In individual matches vs. Harwood on Thursday, the Tiger girls:
• At No. 1 singles, Elizabeth Bright, MUHS, lost to Liliana Ziedens, 6-0, 4-6, 0-1.
• At No. 2 singles, Julia Bartlett, MUHS, defeated Marcella Grimaldi, 5-7, 7-5, 1-0.
• At No. 3 singles, Abby Bailey, MUHS, defeated Gretchen Kogut, 7-6, 6-2.
• At No. 4 singles, Gabi Marin, MUHS, defeated Anda Gully, 6-0, 6-3.
• At No. 5 singles, Bridget Graham, MUHS, defeated Maggie Alberghini, 6-4, 6-2.
• At No. 1 doubles, Lois Alberts and Emma Franklin, MUHS, defeated Lily Derryberry, 6-0, 6-1.
• At No. 2 doubles, Ellie Kiel and Isadora Luksch, MUHS, defeated Morgan Wing and Ella Cook, 6-0, 6-2.
At Montpelier on Wednesday (Solon doubles teams unidentified), in individual matches the Tigers:
• At No. 1 singles, Bright, MUHS, defeated Bella Luhr, 6-2, 6-4.
• At No. 2 singles, Bartlett, MUHS, lost to Isabelle Boutin, 2-6, 1-6.
• At No. 3 singles, Bailey, MUHS, defeated Meredith Stetter, 1-6, 6-4, 1-0.
• At No. 4 singles, Graham, MUHS, lost to Lily Gingold, 2-6, 2-6.
• At No. 5 singles, Gwen Trombley, MUHS, lost to Dominique Savard, 4-6, 0-6.
• At No. 1 doubles, Alberts and Franklin, MUHS, lost, 3-6, 2-6.
• At No. 2 doubles, Kiel and Luksch, MUHS, won, 7-6, 6-4.
TIGER FRESHMAN Julia Bartlett plays a forehand stroke in the first set of her singles match against Harwood on Thursday. Bartlett rallied to win her match in a third-set tiebreaker helping MUHS win the event 6-1.
Independent photo/Steve James
TIGER BOYS
Highlighting the Tiger boys’ matches, a 4-3 Wednesday home win over Montpelier and a 7-0 win at Hartford on Friday, were two more convincing results for their doubles teams, which both remain undefeated this spring.  
In individual matches vs. Montpelier, the Tigers:
• At No. 1 singles, Jesse Rubin, MUHS, lost to Ben Hancock-Song, 4-6, 2-6.
• At No. 2 singles, Spencer Doran, MUHS, defeated Emmett Kolber, 6-2, 6-1.
• At No. 3 singles, Sam Daly, MUHS, defeated Greg Golonka, 6-3, 2-6, 1-0.
• At No. 4 singles, Hunter Munteanu, (MUHS), lost to Joshua Golonka, 6-2, 6-2.
• At No. 5 singles, Drew Kiernan, (MUHS), lost to Willem Slade, 6-3, 7-5.
• At No. 1 doubles, Andy Giorgio and Abel Anderson, (MUHS), defeated Joseph Mensah and Ben Gambil, 6-0, 6-1.
• At No. 2 doubles, Oliver Poduschnick and Aiden Cole, (MUHS), defeated Ryan McSweeney and Sam Watson, 6-0, 6-2.   
At Hartford on Friday, the Tiger boys won the No. 5 singles and both doubles matches by forfeit.
In individual matches the Tigers:
• At No. 1 singles, Doran (MUHS) defeated Ethan Snedden, 7-6, 6-0.
• At No. 2 singles, Daly (MUHS) defeated Andrew St. Martin, 6-2, 6-2.
• At No. 3 singles, Munteanu (MUHS) defeated Nick Jones, 6-2, 5-7, 1-0.
• At No. 4 singles, Joseph Findlay (MUHS) defeated Mathew Zietz, 6-0, 6-0.