MIDDLEBURY, VT (September 26, 2025) -- The Tufts University women's tennis team traveled to the 2025 Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) New England Regional to start action Friday at Middlebury College, having a solid opening to the festivities in the biggest fall tournament of the season.
In the "A" singles draw, Tufts saw three players earn a spot in Saturday's Round of 16 as No. 3 seed
Melanie Woodbury rolled in two matches while sophomore classmate
Athena Li also advanced into the Third Round.
Ellie Gershaw, also a seeded player, won her two matches to move into the Round of 16.
Woodbury bested Asahi Goods of Connecticut College 6-2, 6-0 in the opening round, followed by a tough 5-7, 6-0, 1-0 (5) win over Mia Thomann of Williams College to keep her run going. She will take on Saina Deshpande of MIT Saturday afternoon in the Round of 16. Li pulled the biggest upset of the opening round, knocking off No. 4 seed Rebecca Suarez of Brandeis 5-7, 6-3, 1-0 (8) in a super-tiebreaker before using that momentum to knock off Springfield College's Erica Jud 6-0, 6-0. She will play Gusty Beveridge of Middlebury Saturday.
Gershaw had the longest day of any Jumbo, as her match moved all the way into the 8:00 p.m. hour after matches started at 9:00 a.m. in Vermont. Gershaw topped Allie Francis of Trinity College 6-1, 7-5, before coming back late in the day to eliminate Ellie Stark in the Second Round. She will take on second-seed Fiona Lee of MIT Saturday.
Also in "A" singles' draw, senior
Lucy Mitchell won her First Round battle with Ella Novion of Colby College 6-1, 6-2, but was defeated by the tournament's top seed Matia Cristiani of Babson College 1-6, 6-0, 1-0 (4) in a thriller.
In the "B" singles bracket, first-year
Claudia Grove earned a bye in the First Round but started her day with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Sameera Talwar of Amherst College. Junior
Natalie Hu won her first match of the day in the First Round 6-1, 6-4 over Emelyn Harris of Bates College, but then had her match halted in the Round of 32 against Jane Ladaga of Williams. First-year
Alyssa Khou also had a bye to start the day, and her match was also halted and will continue Saturday.
Sophomore
Ryan Wuhrman won her opening tilt of the day with a 7-5, 7-6 (5) win over Manuela Moscoco of Babson College before falling to Ren Barton of Middlebury College, 7-6 (4), 6-1.
In doubles' action, two pairs moved into the Round of 16 as seeded
Melanie Woodbury and Wuhrman had a bye and then knocked off Amelie Gal and Novion of Colby, 8-4. They will take on No. 7 seed Sarah Youngberg and Mariia Kornilova of Wesleyan Saturday.
Grove and Mitchell were also winners in both of their matches, besting Bella Suk and Kay Lowy of Colby 8-7 (5). They then knocked off the seeded pair of Sophie Diop and Anwitha Duduka of Amherst College 8-4 to move into the Round of 16 Saturday. They will battle Chloe Zeng and Carley Chen of MIT Saturday at 9 a.m.
Hu and Khou teamed up to earn a win in the First Round 8-4 over Ava Emrich and Heidi Cambron of Smith College, but were knocked out of the draw in the Round of 32 by a Williams' pair, 8-7 (6) in a tight match.
Stephanie Woodbury and Gershaw were First Round winners over Alysa Elliott and Natalia Peyon of Springfield 8-2, but fell in their next match 8-7 (5) to Bowdoin's Caroline Stuhlfaut and Cara Hung.
Day two action will start Saturday at Middlebury at 9 a.m.
--JUMBOS--
