In a battle of two top-10 teams, seventh-ranked Middlebury fell by a narrow 5-4 score to #5 Pomona-Pitzer in women's tennis action at the Pauley Tennis Complex during its spring break trip to California. The Panthers (5-1) have a day off before completing their trip to the west coast Saturday with a 2:00 p.m. match at third-ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.

The Sagehens (12-2) tallied wins in two of the evening's three doubles matches. Middlebury's Alexandra Fields and Lauren Amos were the first off the court at #3 with an 8-4 win over Joy Kim and Shivani Doraiswami. Pomona-Pitzer tied the match at 1-1 when Lea Lynn Yen and Caroline Casper posted an 8-3 victory in the #2 spot over Lily Bondy and Sadie Shackelford.

The Sagehens' Maryann Zhao and Emily Chen gave the hosts the smallest of leads when they recorded a win by the slightest of margins (9-8 (5)) over Middlebury's Ria Gerger and Kaysee Orozco.

In singles, Middlebury's Christina Puccinelli was the first to finish, tying the match at 2-2 with her sixth-straight win at #4 by scores of 6-1, 6-0 over Dorasiwami. The Sagehens tallied the ensuing three points to secure the team victory. Yen recorded a 6-2, 6-4 triumph at #6 over Amos, while Kim squeaked by Fields in the second spot by set scores of 6-4, 6-4.

Ahead by a 4-1 count, Pomona-Pitzer clinched the team win with Mae Coyiuto's 6-4, 6-1 victory over Middlebury's Molly Paradies in the fifth slot. The final two points to come off the courts went in favor of the Panthers, both in three sets. Gerger defeated Casper (6-3, 4-6, 6-1) in the #1 slot, while Bondy bested Zhao (6-0, 4-6, 6-4) in the third spot of the lineup.