In a battle of top-six nationally-ranked teams on Sunday, the third-ranked Middlebury women's tennis team utilized strong singles play during a 6-3 NESCAC home victory over #6 Wesleyan (10-3, 4-3). The conference match took place on the sun-soaked Proctor Tennis Courts. The Panthers (11-3, 7-0), winners of eight straight, return to action on Saturday with a 1:00 p.m. home league match against 12th-ranked Amherst.

The visitors jumped out to a 2-1 lead after doubles play. In the second spot, Middlebury's Kaysee Orozco and Catherine Blazye eased by Wesleyan's Dasha Dubinsky and Julia Kim by an 8-2 score for the Panthers' point. The Cardinals responded with an 8-2 victory from Eudice Chong and Victoria Yu over Katherine Hughes and Skylar Schossberger in the No. 1 spot. Wesleyan grabbed the narrow advantage entering singles play via an 8-3 triumph at No. 3 by Helen Klass-Warch and Nicole McCann against Alexandra Fields and Christina Puccinelli.

In singles, the Panthers roared back, claiming five of the six points. Blazye tied the match at 2-2 with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Klass-Warch at No. 4. Maddi Stow gave the hosts a 3-2 lead with a 6-1, 6-1 triumph over Dubinsky in the sixth slot. The Cardinals tied the match at 3-3 when Chong, the defending NCAA singles champion, posted a 6-3, 6-1 win over Fields at the top of the lineup.

The Panthers reeled off three-straight victories in straight sets to close the match. Puccinelli defeated Yu by scores of 6-3 and 6-3 at No. 2, while Molly Paradies clinched the match with a 7-5, 6-0 victory against McCann in the fifth slot. Heather Boehm rounded out the scoring for Middlebury with a 7-5, 6-0 win over Aashli Budhiraja at No. 3, giving the Panthers their 6-3 win.