MIDDLEBURY, Vt. -- First-year Bobcats, Hannah Farber and Lia Swire, locked down singles victories as Bates women's tennis competed in this weekend's ITA New England Championships, hosted by Middlebury College.

Playing in the "B" singles draw, the collegiate rookies proved victorious in their respective first-round matches. Farber opened action with a 7-6, 7-6 edging of Sky Jara (So.) from Colby-Sawyer College before falling to MIT's Alaina Kolli (Sr.). Swire swept Olivia Chin (Fy.) from Smith College (6-2, 7-5) before dropping a decision to fellow first-year, Katelyn Wu, of Williams College.

Other singles results include:
("A" draw) Suzanne Pogorelec (Bowdoin) def. Avni Bakre (Bates): 6-2, 6-1
("A" draw) Marie Reyes (Brandeis) def. Isabella Saul (Bates): 6-2, 6-0
("B" draw) Natalie Hu (Tufts) def. Emelyn Harris (Bates): 6-1, 6-4

In doubles play:
Kamora Helton / Pamela Vallardi (Nichols) def. Bakre / Saul 
Milana Sofizade / Nancy Zhang (Brandeis) def. Harris / Swire

"Our performance this weekend was another step forward", said head coach Deepak Sharma. "Our seniors, Grace LaFountain and Bella (Saul), continue to lead by example: stepping up in new and impressive ways, and helping guide our first-years through the challenges of college competition."

"A big shoutout to our first-years as each picked up a win at one of the toughest tournaments in our region. In those victories, they showed exactly what it takes to succeed at this level: discipline, focus, intensity, effort, and real bravery. Now, we'll look to carry that same mindset and energy into improving our doubles play as we prepare for some tough match-ups at the Hamilton in two weeks."

The Bobcats will compete at the Hamilton Fall Invitational, Oct. 11-12, in Clinton, N.Y.