The women’s tennis team earned its first spring NESCAC victory on Saturday with a 6-3 triumph over Colby, ending a three-match losing streak.

Prior to the Colby match, Bowdoin and Trinity defeated Wesleyan 9-0 and 6-3, respectively. The Cardinals’ overall record now sits at 8-6 (2-4 NESCAC).

The Cardinals returned to Middletown on Saturday ready to take on Colby in their first home match since Oct. 10. The winless Mules provided the perfect cure for Wesleyan’s ills: the Cardinals rolled to a 6-3 victory. The Cardinals’ top three singles players all lost—Ania Preneta ’09, 1-6, 7-6, 1-6, Madalina Ursu ’09, 4-6, 2-6 (the fifth consecutive loss for both), and Rachael Ghorbani ’09, 3-6, 4-6 (her fourth straight)—but the rest of the team was able to pick up the slack. Anika Fischer ’10 won her second consecutive match, 3-6, 6-1, 6-0, and Meredith Holmes ’10 won her second straight and fifth in her last seven, 6-1, 6-4. Casey Simchik ’10 also made it back into the win column, 7-6, 6-4. Wesleyan swept all three doubles matches: Ursu and Fischer won a 9-8 nail-biter, while Ghorbani and Alex Sirois ’09 rolled, 8-5, and Preneta and Lizzie Collector ’09 were victorious by an 8-4 score.

“A big part of our winning, I think, had to do with the fact that we won all three of our doubles [matches],” Simchik said. “This started the match off strongly in our favor, leaving us to need to win [only] two singles matches. We gained momentum and confidence from the doubles wins.”

It has been an up-and-down season for the Cards so far. After a 6-0 Florida trip, Wesleyan lost its first northern match of the spring to Amherst, 9-0 on March 28. Eager to regain the momentum from the Florida matches, the Cardinals traveled to Brunswick, Maine on April 1 to take on an undefeated Bowdoin team. The Polar Bears easily devoured the Cardinals and them their second straight 9-0 loss.

Number-one singles player Preneta lost her third straight match, 2-6, 2-6. Number two Ursu took her opponent to the brink in both sets but dropped them both, 5-7, 5-7. At the number three position, Ghorbani won her first set 7-5, the only win the Cards captured that day, but lost the next set and the tiebreaker, 1-6 (0-10). Fischer also lost a pair of close sets at the number four spot, 5-7, 6-7.

Number five Holmes and number six Simchik did not fare as well: Holmes fell, 0-6, 1-6, and Simchik sustained her first loss of the year, 1-6, 1-6. The Cardinals did not have much success in doubles either, as the top duo of Ursu and Fischer lost 5-8, while Ghorbani and Sirois, and Preneta and Collector both fell 1-8.

On Thursday, the Cardinals traveled to Hartford to face intrastate rival Trinity. Wesleyan put up a good fight, but in the end the Banthams prevailed 6-3. Preneta and Ursu fell by similar scores: Preneta, 1-6, 0-6, and Ursu, 0-6, 1-6. Ghorbani also dropped a tough match, 5-7, 2-6. Fischer dropped her first set 2-6, but rebounded to win the next 6-4, and the tiebreaker (10-3). Holmes also split her sets, 7-6, 4-6, but pulled out a close tiebreaker (12-10).

Simchik’s match also went to the tiebreaker, but she was not as lucky, falling 7-6, 0-6, (6-10), her second straight loss after a 7-0 start. Preneta and Collector won a close match in doubles, 9-8, but the other two pairs were defeated. Ursu and Fischer fell 3-8, while Ghorbani and Sirois lost 6-8.

Despite the three post-Florida losses, Wesleyan remained optimistic about its future.

“The team doesn’t consider it a losing streak,” Simchik said. “We played strong teams, and although we wanted to win, we are not looking at this [negatively].”

The Cardinals’ homestand continues this weekend. On Saturday, Little Three rival Williams comes to town, and on Sunday, Wesleyan takes on Hamilton in its final NESCAC match of the year. Williams currently sits at 11-1, with its only loss coming at the hands of Amherst, 7-2, but Wesleyan likes its chances for an undefeated weekend.

“The team is really looking to win against Hamilton,” Simchik said. “Williams is a very strong team…but I think we have worked hard since our loss [to Amherst] and hope for a better outcome in the Williams match.”

Saturday’s match begins at 10 a.m.; Sunday’s match begins at 1 p.m.