This past weekend, the women’s tennis team traveled to Williams for the annual ITA Regional Singles and Doubles Tournament. In the past, Wesleyan has struggled to come away from the competition with a big W. Over the past three years, the Cards have had only one singles victory and no doubles success. Going into the event, the team had a .125 win percentage there.
That has all changed. With an influx of talented first-years, Wes showed great improvement moving up to a .545 percentage with a 3-3 singles record and a 3-2 doubles record. In singles play, Aashli Budhiraja ’18 came away with the most success and a 2-1 record. After first defeating her first-round competition 6-0, 3-6, 10-6, Budhiraja faced Alex Freeman from Babson. Coming into the tournament, Freeman was ranked 11th out of the field of 64 players. Budhiraja had her work cut out for her. After winning in the first set 6-3, she was unable to capitalize on the momentum and conceded the second round, 1-6. However in the third and decisive set, Budhiraja started cramping up, but she dug deep and was able to pull away and win 6-3.
“She was beginning to cramp towards the beginning of the third set of [the] match,” said Head Coach Mike Fried. “She showed a tremendous amount of heart in battling through on her way to the win.”
As if beating the 11th seed hadn’t been hard enough, Budhiraja had to face Linda Shin from Williams, the third-ranked player. The Ephs competitor proved to be too much for the first-year as she lost 6-1, 6-1. Shin would go on to win the tournament.
“As first-years, part of the interesting thing about the fall and this tournament in particular is getting a little better sense of how the kids are competing,” Fried said. “Along those lines, [her play] was awfully encouraging. In fact, it was a great example of the fight and determination that hopefully will become a hallmark of the team.”
Nicole McCann ’18 also performed well at the tournament. In the first round, she faced stiff competition, but pulled through in the third set to win 5-7, 6-4, 10-4. In the second round she had to face the 12th seed of the tournament, Yagmur Akgul from Babson. Unfortunately, she was unable to have the same success as her teammate Budhiraja, and lost in two sets, 2-6, 1-6.
The other singles competitor for Wes was Helen Klass-Warch ’18. She was the only singles player to not win her first-round match. However, she made up for the deficit by teaming up with Dasha Dubinsky ’18 in doubles play as the two made a strong showing at the tournament. They cruised through their first match, easily defeating their Smith opponents 8-1. The next round had the two first-years facing the sixth- seeded doubles team of the tournament from Wellesley. After a grueling match, the Cardinal teammates came up with a 8-5 victory. The quarterfinals were not any easier for Klass-Warch and Dubinsky as they faced a second-seeded team from Bowdoin. Despite their best efforts, the young Cardinals could not defeat their Polar Bear opponents as they lost 6-8. Although they didn’t win, Klass-Warch and Dubinsky exhibited tremendous team chemistry. This was the first time the two had ever played together on a doubles team.
“I think the overall team chemistry has been great,” Fried said. “I think it’s definitely been crucial to a successful fall, and I think that it’s one of the things that has got everybody even that much more excited about the spring.”
A notable absence from the tournament was Eudice Chong ’18. She was unable to attend as she was playing in Icheon, South Korea. She was invited and participated in the 2014 Asian Games where she reached the round of 16 in singles play and both doubles and mixed doubles competition.
This coming weekend, the Cardinals take their skills to the Conn College Tournament where Amherst will make its first ever appearance. This change will certainly ratchet up the competition to a higher level than in past years, as well as give a preview of how the new and improved Wesleyan team matches up against a consistently strong Lord Jeffs squad.