The second-seeded/#5 Middlebury women's tennis team (15-4) posted a come-from-behind 5-4 victory over third-seeded/#6 Tufts (16-3) during NESCAC Semifinal play on Saturday at Wesleyan. The Panthers will play in the league's championship match for the fifth time and are seeking their first conference title when they square off with top-seeded Wesleyan at 1:00 p.m. The Cardinals squeaked by fourth-seeded Amherst, 5-4, to advance to Sunday's match. 
 
The Panther duo of Claudia Miller and Sahana Raman started things off with an 8-6 victory in the third slot. The pair trailed 2-1, but claimed five-straight games on its way to earning the initial point. The Jumbos took a 2-1 lead behind an 8-5 victory at #2 and a win in the tiebreaker in the top spot by an 8-7 (3) score.
 
Middlebury leveled the match at 2-2 when Gena Huang recorded a straight-set victory (6-2, 6-2) in the fifth flight. The Panthers took their first lead of the match (3-2), as Miller dropped the opening set 6-1 and trailed 5-3 in the second, but rebounded to win the final four games of the set and claim a 1-6, 7-5, 6-1 triumph. The Jumbos evened the back-and-forth match at 3-3 with a three-set victory in the bottom spot.
 
Raman notched a crucial point when she won the opening set (6-1) and the first game of the second before her opponent retired, giving Middlebury a 4-3 edge. Tufts again fought back and made it a 4-4 match with a win in the top spot.
 
Middlebury's Amy Delman and Tufts' Nicki Frankel were the last on the courts, with the deciding point hanging in the balance at #4 singles. Delman won the first set 6-0 and was up 5-0 in the second, before Frankel collected three-straight game wins. Delman claimed the ninth game and clinched the win for the Panthers, improving to 18-7 overall this season and 14-3 in dual matches with a 6-0, 6-3 victory.