Middlebury, VT — In his first season at the helm of Middlebury, head coach Mark Lewis guided the Panthers to a season-ending ranking of 15th in the nation. This season, the Panthers would like to improve their .500 record. According to Lewis, “We’d like to finish in the top 16 nationally and be 2nd in the NESCAC.” To best their 3rd place finish at NESCACs last season, matches with Bates and Williams will be key to determine the Panther’s NESCAC seeding and NESCAC tournament finish. The team graduated three of their top-four players from last season, so players will need to step up as the Panthers look to accomplish their goals. Leading the squad will be captains Audrey Ellen, a former walk on who played #8 last season, and Liddy Renner. Adding to their beautiful home courts will be new monitors to track match scores via Club Locker. Lewis add that Middlebury “is a close knit team with a great work ethic and desire to improve.”
2015-2016 SEASON RECAP
Season Record: 9-9
Final Ranking: 15
Team Championships: 7th in the Kurtz Cup (B Division)
By the Numbers (From US Squash): 5-4 Matches Won: 0 of 0… Top 3 Win%: .407… Middle 3 Win%: .648… Lower 3 Win%: .444…
2016-2017 SEASON PREVIEW
Program Status: Varsity
Head Coach: Mark Lewis
Returning Players from Team Championships: 3. Beatrijs Kuijpers (2019); 5. Alexa Comai (2019); 6. Lucy Bostwick (2018 – NESCAC All-Academic); 7. Caroline Jarhling (2018); 8. Audrey Ellen (2017 – CSA Scholar Athlete); 9. Hope Matthews (2018 – NESCAC All-Academic); 10. Isabel van der Linden (2017 – NESCAC All-Academic; CSA Scholar Athlete); 11. Kristina Frye (2017 – NESCAC All-Academic);
Graduated/Non-Returning Players from Team Championships: 1. Saskia Pownall-Gray (2016); 2. Tiffany Hau (2016); 4. Zoe Carey (2016 – NESCAC All-Academic; NESCAC All-Sportsmanship; CSA Scholar Athlete);
Additions to the 2016-2017 Roster:
- Annie Glassie (Miss Porter’s)
- Mira Chugh (Hopkins)
- Natasha Lowitt
Captains: Audrey Ellen and Liddy Renner
Team Goals: Top 16 national ranking and finish 2nd in the NESCAC tournament
Key Matches: Bates, Williams, Colby, and Hamilton
To read other team previews, please visit the 2016-2017 College Squash Season Previews page.
