REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands Women's Tennis team threatened No. 8 Middlebury College Saturday morning at the Verdieck Tennis Courts, sweeping doubles, but was unable to pull off what would have been one of the biggest upsets in program history as they fell 6-3.
A day after bumping up eleven spots to No. 20 in the Division III National Polls, the Maroon and Grey wanted to make another statement and they did just that getting out in front 3-0 over the Panthers. The momentum though was unable to be carried over into singles as Middlebury would take all six points to come back for the 6-3 victory dropping Redlands to 6-4, 1-0 SCIAC.
The Bulldogs rolled in doubles jumping out in front quickly and never gave the Panthers hope. Liv Rockwood (Park City, UT) and Mia Fitzgerald (Kilauea, HI) picked up the first point with an 8-4 decision at No. 2. The freshmen duo of Kiana Brady (Hermosa Beach, CA) and Christine O'Brien (Leawood, KS) followed quickly at No. 3 cruising to the 8-3 win, and Gabby Rockwood (Park City, UT) and Kendall Bolock (Yucaipa, CA) would hold on for the 8-4 sweep at the top spot.
After that UR slipped with all six matches in singles being decided by straight sets as Middlebury came out and made up ground quickly. Fitzgerald and G. Rockwood would fall 6-1, 6-0, and 6-1, 6-1, respectively at No. 5 and No. 6. L. Rockwood would drop 6-0, 6-2 at the top spot and Brady would fall 6-2, 6-1 at No. 2.
The two battles occurred in the middle by Bolock at No. 3 who would get broken late in the first set at 7-5 before going down 6-1 in the second. Then at No. 4 Lexi Lehman (Scottsdale, AZ) after dropping a 6-2 opening set would fight in the second only to fall 6-4.
Redlands wraps-up their non-conference schedule and now sets their sights on SCIAC opponents first with Chapman University at home next Friday, April 1 beginning at 3:00pm.
Coach's Thoughts
"I am extremely pleased with how we played doubles today. We made a statement across all lines showing that we can compete with the top teams in Division III. We still need to sharpen up our singles, but we had our opportunities, Middlebury was just a bit more confident that us today."
Coach's Shoutout
"After our doubles performance today I believe everyone deserves a shoutout. To come out against a Top 10 team and sweep doubles, while playing fearless was awesome to witness. Everyone is playing together as a team."
