Women’s tennis team introduces new court complex

Over the weekend of October 13, the women’s tennis team showcased the school’s new tennis facilities in a three-day competition against Trinity, Colby and Skidmore.

The school broke ground on the new tennis facility last summer, building it between South Street Field and the school’s outdoor track. The complex features 12 courts, an expansion from the number of courts adjacent to the Proctor Dining Hall, and also helps the school make room for the future student center, located where the Proctor tennis courts are currently located. As part of the construction of the new tennis facility, the school relocated the throwing areas for the athletics team.

“The new places are great. We actually didn’t expect them to be finished in the fall, but then [Middlebury Director of Athletics] Erin Quinn dropped the news, that was really exciting,” said Nina Farhat ’25. “We like them because we are now close to a lot of other track and field athletes and the football games are on. Field hockey can be heard in the background. Proctor is somehow alone on his secluded hill.”

The women’s team had tremendous success in their first formal competition on the new courts. In games in mid-October, the team went 30-2 overall in singles and doubles.

In singles, Farhat, Sahana Raman ’25, Claudia Miller ’25 and Elsie Van Wieren ’28 each scored 3-0 in straight sets, giving Middlebury a 17-1 record in singles. In doubles, the duos Miller and Van Wieren as well as Raman and Farhat both remained unbeaten.

The tournament marked a strong finish to the fall portion of the Panthers schedule. In the fall, the team had an overall record of 58–8 in singles and 34–5 in doubles. In September, several tennis players also performed well at the ITA Regionals hosted by Bowdoin College. Raman reached the semifinals of the tournament, while Farhat and Van Wieren were both quarterfinalists.

“The fall went really, really well. We have three really cool freshmen who just joined our team, which has created a lot of really great positive energy,” Farhat said. “We are very happy about it and overall we managed it really well in the end, which we were very happy about.”

The team’s success at the beginning of the season is a continuation of the team’s success from last season. The team reached the semifinals of the NESCAC Tournament before losing to Amherst 5-4, and then reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament before losing to No. 1 ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges consortium team 5-3 .

The women’s tennis team will continue its 2024-2025 season and will continue to play on the new courts in March of next year.

Farhat was pleased with the team’s new energy and is optimistic about what the spring will bring for the women’s tennis team.

“We have three new freshmen this year. We also have an interim head coach this year who is different than the head coach we had last year. “So she really brings a lot of energy and pushes us forward in many ways, on and off the pitch,” Farhat said. “I think we’ll be at full strength in the spring and really looking forward to the game.”