The fourth-ranked Middlebury women's tennis team started its weekend of home contests with an 8-1 victory Saturday over No. 14 Bowdoin (7-9, 2-2). The match took place inside the Nelson Recreational Center due to inclement weather. Middlebury (8-2, 3-1) returns to action on Sunday with a 1:00 p.m. match against No. 17 Skidmore.

The hosts began by notching all three points during doubles play. The No. 3 tandem of Heather Boehm and Ann Martin Skelly posted an 8-1 victory over Tasha Christ and Sasa Jovanovic. The Panther team of Katherine Hughes and Skylar Schossberger doubled the lead with an 8-2 win in the top flight against Tess Trinka and Izzy Essi, while the No. 2 pair of Catherine Blazye and Maddi Stow were victorious 8-3 over Viv Daniel and Rachel Bercovitch.

In singles, the Panthers claimed the first five matches to finish. Blazye blanked Bercovitch at No. 3 (6-0, 6-0), while Hughes clinched the match in the top spot with a 6-1, 6-4 victory against Trinka.

Boehm tallied the final 11 games en route to a 6-4, 6-0 triumph at No. 2 against Christ, while Stow made the score 7-0 in favor of the hosts with a 6-0, 7-5 victory over Daniel at No. 5. Schossberger needed a third-set superbreaker to get past Essi in the fourth spot by scores of 6-3, 6-7 (4), 10-6.

The Polar Bears claimed their lone point of the match with a straight-set victory at No. 6 for the final 8-1 score in favor of the Panthers.