Women's Tennis Defeats Middlebury in Top-Five Showdown

CLAREMONT, Calif. – The No. 3 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's tennis team defeated another nationally ranked opponent on Friday when they topped the No. 5 Middlebury Panthers by a 7-2 final. The Athenas built a commanding 3-0 lead after doubles play thanks in large part to a huge comeback by Caroline Cox (CMC) and Catherine Allen (SC) at the #2 doubles match. Cox and Allen trailed 7-2 in the doubles match, but rattled of five-straight games to force a tiebreaker. They then claimed the tiebreaker by a score of 7-2 and claimed the match 8-7.

The Athenas' victories at #1 and #3 doubles were much less dramatic than Cox/Allen win on court two. On court one, Lindsay Brown (CMC) and Nicole Tan (CMC) controlled their match, winning it 8-2 and the duo of Kyla Scott (HMC) and Juliette Martin (HMC) claimed the #3 doubles match with an 8-3 victory.

Holding a 3-0 lead heading into singles play, Catherine Allen and Lindsay Brown (CMC) earned quick victories at #2 and #3 singles to claim the match for the Athenas. Brown earned a 6-4, 6-4 victory in the third singles match, while Allen claimed a 6-3, 6-0 victory at the second singles match.

With the match already decided, CMS claimed two more team points with Nicole Tan and Rebecca Berger (CMC) winning the #1 and #5 singles matches, respectively. Tan won the top court by a score of 3-6, 6-4, 10-3 and Berger outlasted her opponent at #5 singles, 6-2, 6-4.

The Panthers took tight matches on courts four and six, but the Athenas won four of the six singles matches to claim their 11th-victory over a ranked team this season.

CMS is next in action on Friday, Apr. 6 when they host the Redlands Bulldogs at 3:00 p.m. at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center.