Panthers Women's Tennis Dominates Brooklyn College for a Stellar Season Opener

By Brianna Henriquez

The Panthers Women's Tennis team (1-0) defeated the Brooklyn College Bulldogs (1-1) with a final score of 5-2, starting their season off with a win in the books.

The team posing for a group picture after a successful match against Brooklyn College. (Photo by Brianna Henriquez)

The blue and orange took home a victory in their home opener on Sept. 4, as they played against the Brooklyn College Bulldogs, giving Brooklyn College their first loss of the season.

Going into their first game, the team was excited. Junior Katelin Smith said she was "feeling pretty good," noting that she played against the Bulldogs last year and "felt confident about today."

Last year, the Panthers defeated the Bulldogs with a score of 6-1, but the team still put in its best effort to earn another victory.

The doubles matches were strong for the Panthers. In the first doubles, co-captains junior Amelia Perlmutter and senior Emma Arnaud won their match 6-2 against Brooklyn College freshman Alexis Goodman and junior Medina Kuc. Second doubles were no different; senior Sierra Blanco and Smith had a clean sweep for the Panthers with a final score of 6-0 against junior Sarah Laniado and sophomore Oleksandra Shablii.

Blanco preparing a backhand during the first set of her singles match (Photo by Brianna Henriquez)

Smith and Blanco carried the same energy into their respective singles matches. Blanco saw success at second singles with a final score of (6-0, 6-2) against freshman Aniyah James. And a clean sweep (6-0, 6-0) by Smith against Shablii.

Perlmutter returning a serve during her singles match. (Photo by Brianna Henriquez)

Perlmutter reigned victorious at first singles against Goodman (6-0, 6-3). Senior Novalie Nguyen had a close match against Laniado at fourth singles, but persisted and won (6-4, 6-2). Junior Sadie Killebrew lost against senior Anabel Greenberg but did not go down without a fight (3-6, 3-6).

On the sidelines, freshman Linda Delgado, sophomore Caroline Fraser and senior Stella Kahnis (prospective player) watched and created a supportive atmosphere. Clapping when appropriate and rooting their teammates on.

"A team works a lot better when there's camaraderie," said Kahnis. "They seem like very good friends," Kahnis observed after spending time with the team during training.

Arnaud's match was the last of the day. Arnaud lost her first set (3-6) but won the second (7-5), thus the game had to go into a tiebreaker. The rest of the Panthers watched as Arnaud went neck and neck with Medina, but Arnaud kept calm, racking up four points but ultimately losing the tiebreaker (4-10).

Arnaud at the beginning of her long match, ready to receive a shot by Medina. (Photo by Brianna Henriquez)

Together, the team earned five points, winning their match against the Brooklyn College Bulldogs. Post-match, the team celebrated together and received comments on the game from coach Dimitar "Mickey" Brzov.

"I think it was a good performance for our first match," said Coach Brzov. "It's gonna get better and better."