Propelled by a standout Saturday from captain Sarah Miller ’12, the Wesleyan women’s tennis team narrowly took down the Colby Mules by a count of 5-4 on April 7. Miller led the Cardinal charge with a win in both at singles and doubles; she pulverized her #2 singles opponent 6-2 and 6-0, and  she joined forces with Grace Smith ’14 at #1 doubles for an 8-4 triumph. The victory was the first in NESCAC play for Wes this year, with the team taking a loss in the fall campaign at the hands of Williams before falling to Bates and Bowdoin in the opening weekend of spring action.

The close team victory was driven by the singles matchups, with Wesleyan taking four of the six one-on-one tilts on the day. Genevieve Aniello ’13, #3 singles player, and Kiley Robbins ’14, #4 singles player, cruised to straight set victories by scores of 6-4, 6-3 and 6-3, 6-2, respectively. Madison Hartley ’15, a new addition to the squad after transferring midyear from Wheaton College, nailed home a clutch and hard-fought three-set victory at #5 singles by winning 7-5, 4-6, 6-3. The Cardinals were just shy of sweeping the six singles slates, with Smith at #1 and Lauren Jacobs ’15 at #6 both falling in three sets; Smith fell in a gut-wrenching three-set tiebreaker.

The victory brings the squad’s record to 4-3 overall and 1-3 in NESCAC play. It also marked the eighth win in the last 10 contests versus Colby. The team will look to keep its non-conference record unblemished when it takes on Babson College on Tuesday, April 10 in an away contest.