The women’s tennis team opened up the 2010-2011 season with a bang on Saturday afternoon as they dominated Simmons College, marking the squad’s first victory of the season. With four freshmen, a sophomore and a senior rounding out the Cardinals’ starting lineup, Wesleyan triumphed in five of six singles matches and two of the three doubles matchups to ultimately defeat Simmons, 7-2.

The Cardinals had a solid start to the day as they hit the ground running with an impressive round of singles. Leading the team at the top spot, Genevieve Aniello ’13 fought a long battle, ultimately defeating her opponent 6-2,4-6, 6-4. Following behind, Kiley Robbins ‘14 took down her first collegiate tennis victory at the number two spot with a score of 6-4, 7-5. Holding it down at number three singles, Grace Smith ’14 also boasted her first collegiate win as she defeated her opponent 4-6, 6-0, 6-2. In the number four slot, captain Linda McDougal ‘11 battled hard throughout her entire match, but unfortunately could not come out with the win and finished the match with a final score of 4-6, 3-6. Playing at number five, Nicki Softness ’14 had a great first collegiate showing as she defeated her opponent 6-4, 6-3. Rounding out the singles section for the Cards at the number six spot was Kaitlyn Clark ‘14, who pulled out a 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) victory.

Heading into the doubles rounds, the Cardinals once again came out on top with wins in 2 of the 3 matches. The number one pair, Aniello and Robbins, played a solid match but did not manage to pull off the win and concluded with a final score of 3-8. In the number two spot, McDougal and Smith worked extremely well together, coming out with a big 8-6 win.

“I was really excited but also nervous for my first collegiate match,” said Smith. “I didn’t play a lot of doubles in high school so having to play that immediately at Wes was definitely a change and something I’m still adjusting to. Luckily, my partner Linda is very supportive during the matches.”

The freshman duo, Clark and Softness, closed out the day for the Cardinals with a final 8-4 win.
After their impressive first showing on Saturday, the squad is fired up and even more excited to get the season rolling.

According to Smith, “The practices preceding the match were very solid so we had to focus on maintaining that energy on Saturday. I think the team is very happy with the results because we had a few close matches but were ultimately able to pull away with the W.”

The Cardinals will hit the courts again for a second home game on Tuesday, Sept. 14, as they face off against the Springfield College Pride.