On short rest and in dire need of a victory, Wesleyan men’s tennis traveled to Hartford on Wednesday hoping to turn the season around against Trinity. After the day’s results, it appears that the Cardinals envision the remainder of their spring heading in a different direction.

“The win against Trinity was huge for our season,” declared proud captain Michael Glen ’13.

Five matches into the spring season, the Cardinals pointed to their victory against Franklin & Marshall as the lone bright spot. Wesleyan’s other four results, though against formidable opponents, left much to be desired. Although there were some strong performances, Wesleyan felt a sense of urgency to prove they are capable of winning important matches.

“We felt the pressure to win,” Glen said. “But we know what we have in this locker room, and we know that we can beat any NESCAC team if we come ready to perform.”

With yet another strong showing from its doubles teams, Wesleyan started the match against Trinity much like every previous spring match. The undefeated tandem of Jeff Legunn ’13 and Mike King ’16 left little in doubt, as they handed their #2 doubles opponents a swift 8-4 defeat. The match raises the duo’s record to 6-0 for the spring. Not to be outdone, the duo of Zach Brint ’16 and Sam Rudovsky ’16 improved their record to 4-2 on the spring season with an 8-5 victory at #1 doubles.

Yet after a loss at the #3 doubles pairing, Wesleyan found themselves in the exact same spot they were in when they played against Middlebury College. Up 2-1 after doubles play at Middlebury, the Cardinals dropped all six of their singles contests and lost handily 7-2.

“We thought about that, for sure,” said Alex Rachlin ’15. “We knew we had to follow through in our singles matches or else none of that hard work would matter.”

After the first two singles matches, prospects looked anything but promising. A pair of straight set defeats at the #1 and #2 singles spots for Stephen Monk ’15 and King, respectively, left Wesleyan trailing 3-2. However, a familiar name—senior captain Legunn—stepped up when the Cardinals needed it most,  making quick work of his opponent with a 6-3, 6-0 victory in straight sets.

Wesleyan and Trinity then went tit for tat, with a Bantam victory at the #5 spot against Brint followed by a timely and gutsy three-set victory at the #6 seed for Ben Hudson ’15. After dropping the first frame 1-6, Hudson responded with consecutive 6-4 set victories, earning the win and tying the contest at four matches apiece.

The Cardinals then waited, looking to Rudovsky to take them back home to Middletown as champions. After trading sets at the #3 spot 6-2, 4-6, Rudovsky was left playing on his heels hoping to extend the match in whatever way possible.

“He faced four match points against him, and he kept battling back,” Rachlin said. “What he did was really impressive, and just shows that mental toughness we’ve been preaching all season.”

With every match point thrown at him, Rudovsky found a way to respond. Eventually, the freshman took home the third and final set, 7-5. The win was his second on the day and gave the Cardinals a much needed and much deserved 5-4 victory over a conference foe.

Though Wesleyan may be excited after such a dramatic finish, there is little time to dwell on their success. Saturday, April 13, the Cardinals travel to Clinton, N.Y. to take on Hamilton before returning home with no layoff for a match against Tufts on Sunday, April 14.

“We’re happy, but we’re keeping the nose to the grindstone,” Glen said. “We have more work to do, but getting that…victory under our belt feels good.”