The seventh-ranked Middlebury women's tennis team battled #2 University of Chicago in a back-and-forth matchup on Saturday, falling to the Maroons 4-3 in the semifinals of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Women's National Team Indoor Championships.
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• The top UChicago doubles pairing of Oliwia Mikos and Anika Paul slipped past Gusty Beveridge and Lulu Wu by a 6-4 score. The Maroons secured the point when the #3 duo of Charlotte Klein and Tina Kintiroglou defeated Elsie Van Wieren and Diya Pachamuthu 6-2. Ren Barton and Anna Lardner earned a 6-2 triumph in the second spot. 
• In singles play, Isabelle Chong downed Charlotte McCann in the #6 spot (6-2, 6-0) before Sarena Biria put Chicago on the brink with a 6-3, 6-2 decision against Van Wieren.
• Barton got the Panthers on the board via a straight-set victory over Zawaneh (6-3, 6-2) at #5. 
• Lardner continued the positive momentum for Middlebury, slipping past Anika Paul in the second slot (7-5, 7-6 (5). 
• Beveridge tied the match at three points aside in a battle with Clara Zou at #3. The Maroon won the first set 6-4 before the Panther claimed six of the seven games in the second. In the decisive third set, Zou led 4-3 before retiring to give Beveridge the key point.
• The last match on the courts was a three-set marathon between Wu and Kintiroglou in the fourth position. Wu grabbed the early lead with a 6-4 first-set triumph, but the Chicago player drew even with a 6-4 win. The players battled in the third frame with Kintiroglou posting a 6-4 decision to push UChicago to Sunday's championship match.

NOTES

• Lardner picked up her 35th career victory in singles. 
• The programs squared off for the seventh time with Chicago holding a narrow 4-3 edge.

Middlebury returns to action on Sunday in the ITA Indoor National Third-Place Match against #1 Washington-St. Louis at 8:00 a.m. CT / 9:00 a.m. ET.