The women’s tennis team swept the competition during its spring break trip to Florida, going 6-0 in Orlando, including an exhibition win, to improve its overall record to 7-3.

Rachael Ghorbani ’09 and Casey Simchik ’10 both went undefeated in their singles matches, and Madalina Ursu ’09 and Anika Fischer ’10 lost only one match each. The trip included a 9-0 exhibition win over Oxford College of Emory University as well as a 4-3 win over Division I foe Manhattan.

Following the loss of captain Tori Santoro ’07 to a broken collarbone, Wesleyan was forced to use a lineup consisting solely of freshmen and sophomores. The young Cardinals opened their spring schedule with a 5-4 win against the University of Puerto Rico-Río Piedras. Ursu, Fischer, Ghorbani, and Simchik won their singles matches, while Ania Preneta ’09 and Meredith Holmes ’10 suffered close losses at the first and fifth spots, respectively. The duo of Ursu and Fischer provided the only doubles win for the Cardinals, an 8-4 triumph in the first position. Ghorbani and Holmes (number two) fell by the score of 2-8, while Preneta and Lizzie Collector ’09 (number three) were defeated, 4-8.

The Cardinals took on NAIA squad Georgetown College the next day and rolled to a 7-2 victory. With the same singles ladder as the previous day, Wesleyan won five of the six matches, with Preneta falling, 6-7, 1-6, in the only singles defeat. The doubles matches were a near-exact opposite of those of the previous day; Ghorbani and Sirois (replacing Holmes) won their match, 8-4, and the number three duo of Preneta and Collector triumphed, 8-2. Ursu and Fischer, however, were taken down, 4-8, for the fifth time in seven matches.

Wesleyan battled Division II squad Michigan Tech that same day and cruised to a 6-3 triumph. Fischer continued her winning ways, 6-4, 0-6, 7-6, to conquer her third straight opponent and sixth in her last seven matches. Simchik, this time playing in the fifth singles position, ran her record to 4-0 with a 6-4, 5-7, 10-8 victory, and Alex Sirois ’09, playing her first match since breaking her foot over winter break, rolled to her third win in four matches, 6-1, 6-1. Preneta and Holmes again suffered close losses, the fifth straight for Preneta and the fourth in five matches for Holmes. Ursu and Fischer also dropped a close doubles match, 8-9, but Ghorbani and Sirois (8-4) and Preneta and Collector tamed the Huskies to ensure the victory. Even more important to the team, however, was the return of Sirois.

“We couldn’t wait for Alex to be able to play again,” Simchik said. “Even through her foot injury, she has been a vital member of the team, playing number two doubles.”

The Cardinals returned to Division III play the following day against St. Scholastica. The Saints proved to be no match for the Cardinals, who rode five singles victories to a 6-3 win. Preneta broke into the win column with a 6-1, 6-2 triumph, and Ghorbani and Holmes also won their matches. Simchik, playing in the fourth position, ran her unbeaten streak to five matches, and Collector won her first singles match of the season. Sirois, playing her first singles match in the fifth position, fell, 6-2, 6-7, 7-10. The Cardinals did not fare as well in the doubles matches, however, losing two of the three, with number three Preneta and Collector the lone victorious pair, 8-1.

Wesleyan easily handled Emory’s Oxford College the next day in an exhibition match, a 9-0 sweep. Wesleyan did not lose a set in the match, and its singles players combined to lose only four games, two by Ursu and one each by Preneta and Collector. Ghorbani and Sirois won their doubles match, 8-3, including the only games Wesleyan lost in the three doubles matches.

The Cardinals concluded their Florida trip with a match against Division I Manhattan. The teams split the singles matches, but Wesleyan’s two doubles victories gave the Cards a narrow 5-4 victory over the Jaspers. Ursu lost her first match in Florida, 1-6, 4-6, a loss that snapped her six-match winning streak. Preneta and Fischer also lost their matches, but Ghorbani, Holmes, and Simchik prevailed. It was the fifth straight win for Ghorbani and the seventh straight (against zero losses) for Simchik. The number one doubles duo of Ursu and Fischer pulled out an 8-6 victory, and Preneta and Collector earned an 8-3 win in the third spot. The victory improved the Cardinals’ overall record to 7-3 and gave them valuable momentum heading into their NESCAC schedule.

“The Florida trip helped us go into the spring season because our lineup was basically finalized,” Preneta said. “We have a bunch of solid players working well with each other in doubles, and it made us realize winning against good players is possible.”

“The 6-0 [record] in Florida is impressive,” Simchick said. “It puts our season off to a good start. It was good to have some competition in Florida over spring break before our spring season starts, so that we can get right back to where we were in the fall season. Florida was good for our team to reconnect and get excited for the season.”

Unfortunately, the team could not maintain its momentum from the Florida trip in a match against Amherst on Wednesday, a 9-0 defeat. Preneta, again competing in the number one singles position, fell 1-6, 1-6, and number two Ursu fell by a similar score, 2-6, 1-6. Ghorbani, again in the number three position, was defeated 2-6, 0-6. At the number four spot, Fischer’s match was the closest defeat, 4-6, 2-6. Holmes and Sirois, playing at the number five and number six spots, respectively, failed to win a game, losing 0-6, 0-6.

The Cardinals did not fare much better in doubles. The number-one duo of Ursu and Fischer fell 1-8, and number-two Ghorbani and Sirois dropped their match 3-8. The number-three pair of Preneta and Collector had the closest match of the three, a 5-8 loss. The match was the sixth straight 9-0 victory for Wesleyan’s Little Three rival over the Cardinals, dating back to the 2000-01 season (no match was played in 2001-02).

“Amherst is a really strong team, probably the strongest in the NESCAC…and obviously stronger than any team we played in Florida,” Preneta said. “We went out on the courts with nothing to lose, and the score didn’t really reflect how well all the girls played.”

The Cards feel confident that the tough Amherst match will not slow them down.

“I don’t think we need to worry that we have lost momentum,” Simchik said. “Amherst is a really strong and deep team, and therefore I don’t think [the loss] will result in a negative effect on the rest of our season.”

Next up for the Cardinals is a match at Bowdoin on Sunday, April 1.