On October 4, Caroline Stuhlfaut ’27 and Zoe Sun ’27 took the doubles crown and title at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) New England Division III Regional Championships. Stuhlfaut and Sun are the second Bowdoin women’s tennis team duo to win the doubles regional crown, accompanied only by Jamilah Karah ’25 and Cara Hung ’26 in 2022. Naomi Williams ’29 also took home a title in the B singles draw.

For Stuhlfaut and Sun, the title match was the first time the two had stepped on the court to play a game together.

“We’ve never played with each other before, so we didn’t really know what was going to happen,” Stuhlfaut said. “The fact that we both have a ton of experience and maturity on the court, I think that really worked to our advantage.”

When making pairs for a team of 12, with three members per class, Head Coach Ben Lamanna groups first years with upperclassmen to act as their mentors. With all three of the team’s junior members abroad, it just so happened that Stuhlfaut and Sun were left unpaired.

“This tournament was [like,] ‘Okay, let’s put the two best friends together and make sure that they have a lot of fun together,’” Lamanna said. “It’s such a great story. I’m really happy for them…. They played unbelievable tennis.”

Stuhlfaut and Sun were the No. 6 seed in the tournament. Sun recalls the win against the Wesleyan team, the No. 3 seed, in the quarterfinals as the match that gave them the momentum to take the whole tournament.

“Bowdoin has always had close matches with Wesleyan, and considering they won the national team championships last year, they are a very strong team. This match was a lot closer than the score makes it seem,” Sun wrote in an email to the Orient.

The pair pulled off an early lead, winning the first game. Sun credits the duo’s ability to hold serve in winning the match.

“Stuhlfaur and I focused a lot on energy and playing aggressive,” Sun wrote. “From then on, we were able to keep our lead throughout the match by holding serve and slowly figuring out how to win their strongest serving game until we finally did later on in the set to make it 7–3. I think that moment gave us the momentum we needed and was crucial to our win.”

Stuhlfaut relied on practices and muscle memory during tougher moments in the matches.

“[After] going for all these crazy … and more advanced moves in practice, then, when you get into that match situation, it just feels like second nature,” Stuhlfaut said.

Ultimately, Sun was grateful she experienced the title win with one of her closest friends.

“[There] is something so special about getting to play doubles with one of your best friends. Something [Stuhlfaut] and I do really well is connecting on the court, and I think that is a huge reason for our success,” Sun wrote. “I love doubles because we get to play with our closest friends, figure out tough moments and share wins together.”

On the singles court, Williams, unseeded, beat No. 4 seed Sarai Dorismond of Babson College in the semifinals before taking the title in a match against Ahn Lin of Williams College, with a 6–4, 6–1 victory.

For Williams, the match against Babson was one of the toughest in the tournament.

“It was the third day of the tournament, so I was definitely feeling sore, but after losing the first set, I fought hard to come back and win the second before taking the deciding tiebreaker,” Williams wrote in an email to the Orient. “It was great to have my teammates cheering me on and supporting me, and I am overall very happy with the win.”

Up next, Stuhlfaut and Sun compete October 15-18 at the ITA Cup in Rome, Ga., for a chance at the ITA Division III doubles championship title.

“Our team loves to say, ‘We turn any away match into a home match,’ or ‘Let’s make this our home for the weekend.’ I think this mentality is something we will harness in Georgia,” Sun wrote. “I personally think it is important to focus less on the expectations, and more on us as a team and what we need to do. If we are proud of what we put out there, we can be happy with whatever outcome, win or loss.”