The Cardinal women closed out their season with a victorious home match against Colby on Saturday, April 27 before going on the road the next day to beat Bates. Going into the final two matches of the season, Wesleyan held a 4-9 overall record including a 2-5 tally in NESCAC play.

The Cardinals dominated in their match against the Colby Mules, winning 9-0 and dropping only three sets. Clare DuBrin ’16 fought her way to a 6-7, 6-2 (10-6) win after dropping the first set in a tiebreak at the #1 seed. Grace Smith ’14 won her #2 singles match with ease by a score of 6-0, 6-3. Anna Howard ’15 played in her first ranked match of the season in place of captain Genevieve Aniello ’13, who played only in a doubles match. Howard had to come from behind after dropping the first set 2-6, but she managed to win the second set 6-2 and take the super tiebreaker by a score of 10-4.

Jessica Seidman ’16 and Nicki Softness ’14 both won in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4 and 6-3, 6-4 respectively. Kiley Robbins ’14 played in her first match since she retired from play against Conn College and prevailed 6-0, 6-7, (10-7).

DuBrin and Aniello teamed up at #1 doubles and won their match 8-2, Smith and Lauren Jacobs ’15 won 8-5 at #2, and Robbins and Softness won 8-2 at #3.

The Cards then headed to Maine for their final match of the season to take on a 28th-ranked Bates team, finishing strong with a 6-3 upset victory. The win helped Wesleyan close the season out with consecutive wins that took the team’s record to 4-5 in NESCAC play and 6-9 overall.

DuBrin won her #1 singles match in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3. Despite a heroic effort in the second set, Smith lost at the #2 singles spot 2-6, 6-7 after an unlucky tiebreak finished the match up for Bates. Aniello won her final singles match of her college career at #3 by a score of 6-2, 6-3. Howard won her second consecutive match—playing at #4 this time—6-1, 6-3. Seidman and Jacobs rounded out the singles matches with two more victories, 6-0, 7-6 and 6-2, 6-3 respectively. Unfortunately, DuBrin and Aniello were unable to win in the #1 doubles match, but Smith and Jacobs grabbed an 8-4 victory at #2 doubles. Robbins and Softness lost 2-8 in the #3 doubles match.

The win at Bates means that all of the Cards’ losses in NESCAC play came to teams ranked 21st or better in Division III. The 4-5 record Wesleyan accumulated in the NESCAC proves certainly solid without being spectacular. Depending on how other conference matches play out, the Cards could finish as high as sixth in the NESCAC.

With only Aniello graduating, the Cardinals have every reason to be hopeful for next season, especially as Seidman, a freshman, had the best singles record on the team.  Additionally, the Cardinals clearly improved as the season went on, going 4-3 in their final seven matches of the season.

A perfect last weekend is a great way to end the season, and with a year of experience under their belts, the Cardinal women could be a force to be reckoned with when they return to play in the fall.