MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – The Tufts University women's tennis team was edged by Middlebury College in the NESCAC Championship Semifinals on Saturday 5-4.
The Jumbos, seeded third, had taken a 2-1 lead in doubles against the two-seed Middlebury. After the Panthers' Claudia Miller and Sahana Raman won the third match, Tufts took the next two. The second duo of Maggie Dorr with Caroline Garrido won 8-5, and then the Jumbos gained the edge with Elle Christensen and Tilly Rigby going to a tie-breaker to win at #1 8-7 (3).
In a back-and-forth contest, Middlebury evened the score at 2-2 with Gena Huang's 6-2, 6-2 win at fifth singles. The Panthers then took a 3-2 lead as Miller came back to win in three sets over Jumbo Zoe Kava at #3 1-6, 7-5, 6-1.
Tufts' Madeline Suk evened the score back at 3-3 when she won in sixth singles also in three sets 4-6, 6-3, 7-5. However, the next match off was in Middlebury's favor as Raman won at #2 when Rigby couldn't finish. However, Christensen won her #1 match against Brinlea La Barge with a 7-6 (5), 6-0 victory to even the team score again at 4-4.
The decisive victory would go to Amy Delman from Middlebury who defeated Nicki Frankel from Tufts 6-0, 6-3 on the fourth singles court.
The Panthers (15-4) go on to face Wesleyan in the championship match tomorrow at 1 pm. Tufts (16-3) expects an NCAA berth when the pairings are announced on Monday.
