The women’s tennis team ended its fall season on Saturday with an 8-1 victory over Simmons College. This final victory enabled the Cardinals to finish off their season with a perfect 4-0 record. Although many of their opponents this fall season were not at the NESCAC level of competition, the team still had its fair share of tough matches and hard fought battles.

“It was interesting fall season,” said captain Anika Fischer ’13. “I don’t think we had our full lineup present at any of the matches, but it was a lot really fun mixing and matching people.”

Characterizing the fall season as a “tryout for the spring,” Fischer was impressed with the team’s accomplishments this far and is looking forward to competing at the top of the NESCAC in the spring season.

This past Saturday, the Cards dominated Simmons, winning five of the six singles matches. The success started at the top spot with Fischer, who won her match 6-0, 7-5. Playing at the number-two spot, Meredith Holmes ’10 had a tough match and ended with a final score of 4-6, 4-6. The winning streak then continued on with Genevieve Aniello ’13 (No. 3; 6-3, 6-1), Linda McDougal ’11 (No. 4; 6-3, 6-2), Casey Simchik ’10 (No. 5; 6-0, 6-2), and Hannah Berkman ‘12 (No. 6; 6-2, 6-4).

Although there was a lot of pressure to uphold their undefeated title, the team was satisfied the day’s overall level of play

“In singles everyone played confidently and stayed calm,” said Fischer. “It gets tough sometimes when you are playing someone you know you should beat, since there’s added anger every time you miss a shot, but everyone seemed to keep their cool.”

Despite missing two starting players who were out sick with the flu, the Cards managed to pull it together and win all three doubles matches. Playing at the top spot, Fischer, along with first time doubles teammate Taylor Morales ‘13, initially struggled with the first few games, but ultimately finished with an 8-2 victory. The number-two pair of Holmes and Aniello also had a hard time with the first two games but also ended with an 8-2 win. At the number-three spot, Simchik and McDougal rallied from a 6-3 deficit with five straight points for an 8-6 win.

“The doubles matches were definitely tough,” said Fischer. “I think we were all a bit nervous to be playing without Sarah [Miller ’12] or Ana [Alvarado ‘12], but after we calmed down everyone started playing better.”

After a long day of matches, the team was extremely pleased with the final outcome.

“Winning our match against Simmons, who [had] been undefeated in their conference, was a perfect ending to our fall season,” said Aniello. “We finished winning eight matches…while missing two of our starting players. It was an awesome match and I was really impressed with my entire team.”