Bella Stone and the Bobcats fell 9-0 to Middlebury on Saturday. (File photo by Josh Kuckens/Bates College) 

MIDDLEBURY, Vt. -- The Bates women's tennis team took on No. 6 Middlebury on Saturday and fell 9-0. 

The Panthers (2-0) set the tone early with a strong doubles performance against the Bobcats (3-3).

Ria Gerger and Kaysee Orozco defeated the Bobcats' Elizabeth Erbafina '17 (Sudbury, Mass.) and Bella Stone '19 (Concord, Mass.) 8-1 at No. 1 doubles. Bates fell 8-0 at No. 2 doubles and the combination of Emma Mattson '16 (Dana Point, Calif.) and Emma Blakeley '16 (Hope, Maine) fell at No. 3 doubles 8-1.

The Panthers continued their strong play in singles. Maisie Silverman '18 (Brunswick, Maine) took two games against Gerger in set one at No. 1 singles but ended up dropping the match 6-2, 6-0. 

Erbafina fell at No. 2 singles to Alexandra Fields 6-3, 6-1 and Stone dropped her match at No. 3 singles Christina Puccinelli 6-3, 6-1. 

Blakeley won the most combined games in her match in a 6-3, 6-2 loss to Lauren Amos at No. 5 singles.

The Bobcats are back in action Friday afternoon against Case Western Reserve at the University of Mary Washington. The match gets started at 3:00 p.m.