The Wesleyan women’s tennis team achieved their fifth straight NESCAC Championship last spring, which they followed up with a NCAA Tournament run for the history books. While they may not have come out of St. Louis, Miss. this past June with a National Championship trophy, they left with their heads held high as National Championship runners-up and a strong desire to get back to where they were and this time, win it. 

The journey began this fall, as the Cardinals competed in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Regional Tournament from Sept. 20–22 and the ITA Cup from Oct. 10–13. After competing in the University of Connecticut (UConn) Invitational from Sept. 14–15, many of the players were experiencing their first taste of competitive play since last spring. 

Since the new academic year began, the team worked together to build chemistry with one another and establish a team culture before competitive play started. The UConn Invitational was the perfect opportunity to put that chemistry to the test, and many players felt it gave them the confidence going into ITAs that the team would always have their back.

“Before [ITA] regionals, we only had one weekend of competing, which was the UConn invite,” Jackie Soloveychik ’27 said. “So heading into ITAs, there wasn’t really a specific message, other than to keep up the standards that we have as a team and try to channel that into an event like this.”

In the singles draw, four members of the Red and Black snatched Round of 64 victories, including Olivia Chalik ’28 and Lucinda Gatsiounis ’28, who picked up their first ITA wins of their college careers. Chalik, along with Lane Durkin ’27 and Soloveychik, earned their way through the Round of 32. Soloveychik had a particularly difficult matchup in the Round of 32 against Bowdoin’s Suzanne Pogorelec, which ended in a tense tiebreak where Soloveychik found herself down 4–8. Despite the large deficit, she rattled off six straight points to come back and take the match, grabbing her spot in the Round of 16. 

Meanwhile, in the doubles draw, Durkin and Renna Mohsen-Breen ’25 picked up right where they left off last year, cruising through the first couple of rounds. With captain Leila Epstein ’26 abroad, Soloveychik’s doubles partner for the ITAs became newcomer Natalia Leroy ’28, who proved to be just as successful of a partner as the new pair captured swift victories in the early rounds. 

Durkin talked about the chemistry she and Mohsen-Breen have developed since joining forces in doubles last season.

“We have very different play styles,” Durkin said. “[Renna’s] strengths are up at the net, hitting volleys and overheads, and my strengths are on the baseline where I can rip the ball deep cross court. But what has given us so much success is our mindset. We have so much fun playing together, and I know she’s not going to be upset with me if I make a mistake and the same for me to her.”

While Chalik and Durkin both fell in the singles round of 16, Soloveychik excelled, avenging an ITA match that knocked her out last year. The NESCAC Rookie of the Year defeated Babson University’s Matia Cristiani 6–2, 6–1, who defeated Sarah Youngberg ’26, currently abroad, in last year’s regional final, which Wesleyan hosted.

Soloveychik followed that match up with another win in the quarterfinals, coming back to win two straight sets after dropping the first one. With her spot in the regional final four locked, it was then time for her and Leroy, along with Durkin and Mohsen-Breen, to fight for their spots in the doubles final four.

In the quarterfinals, Durkin and Mohsen-Breen squared off against last year’s regional champions, Babson’s Cristiani and Olivia Soffer. While the Babson pair may have had everyone’s number in 2023, the Red and Black made sure that would not happen again, as Durkin and Mohsen-Breen picked them apart and captured an 8–3 victory. Leroy and Soloveychik followed suit, defeating their Amherst opponents 8–4 to set up a doubles final four featuring two Middlebury versus Wesleyan matches. 

Both doubles pairs brought the intensity up a notch against their Panther opponents, as they knew a win would secure their spot in the ITA Cup, which would take place a few weeks later in Rome, Ga. Durkin and Mohsen-Breen secured their spot in the finals, defeating their Middlebury rivals 8–4. Leroy and Soloveychik used their chemistry as a pair, which they bolstered through early wins, to grab the second spot in the finals, winning 8–3.

Leroy discussed how Soloveychik’s support on the court instilled confidence in her to perform and help the pair win.

“If I got mad after a point, [Jackie] would be like ‘No, I need you here,’” Leroy said. “She kept telling me to have good energy, and that really helped me stay focused, because I knew I had to be there for her. I didn’t allow myself to be as negative.”

With Cardinals’ pairs set to face each other in the ITA regional final for the first time in five years, all four players were laughing about it before and after the match, but remained competitive and gave it their all when facing each other on the court. In the end, Durkin and Mohsen-Breen prevailed, winning the final 8–5. Either way, both teams were headed to Georgia to compete in the ITA Cup, so they were both satisfied with the result. Now it was up to Soloveychik to grab a semifinals win to punch her ticket in the singles draw, too. 

Soloveychik dropped the first set against her semifinals opponent in a tiebreak, but it did not deter her confidence, as she regained her footing and won the second set 6–4. Soloveychik rose to the challenge in the third set, clinching her spot in the regional final and earning her way to Georgia in both singles and doubles. In the final, she faced Babson’s Soffer and handled the match perfectly, winning 6–3, 6–3 and securing a Wesleyan sweep at ITA Regionals. 

With Durkin, Leroy, Mohsen-Breen, and Soloveychik all qualifying for the ITA Cup, the four of them, plus coaches Mike Fried and Steph Yanosov, made the trip to Rome, Ga. on Wednesday, Oct. 9. Wes was lucky enough to send four different players to Georgia, unlike many schools who only sent one or two, so they used their strength in numbers to support each other throughout the tournament both on and off the court.

“My [singles] matches were in the mornings, and then doubles were in the afternoon,” Soloveychik said. “So we all went to my singles matches, which was so special because we all showed up, even when we had to get up at 6:00 a.m. for them. You could tell by the the first day we got there, we were having the time of our lives. We were playing music, soaking in the moment of working so hard to get here, and we were going to make the most of it.”

On Thursday, Oct. 10, with singles matches in the morning and doubles in the afternoon, Soloveychik was the first Cardinal to play in Georgia, and she snagged the Red and Black’s first win of the trip, advancing past her opponent from Gustavus Adolphus College 6–2, 6–1. She added to her strong day one by winning with Leroy in doubles against rivals from Trinity. 

While Durkin and Mohsen-Breen lost a hard-fought match on day one, they didn’t let it bash their spirit too much. They won two consolation matches over the course of the weekend, giving them some success to smile about when looking back on the trip.

“Obviously the first round was really disappointing,” Durkin said. “But we knew it would be such a waste to not take advantage of the two matches we got to play next. So we treated them like they were the quarters or the semis. You never know when you’re gonna make it back to the [ITA] Cup, so we were just happy to have more tennis to play.”

Meanwhile, Soloveychik followed up the next day with a convincing 6–3, 6–1 victory over New York University’s Jimena Menendez. These early matches helped Soloveychik continue to build on her confidence throughout the trip, and her teammates were with her every step of the way.

After Leroy and Soloveychik were ousted in the second round, all Cardinal players and coaches were now focused on supporting Soloveychik as she was preparing to play in the final four of the singles. In her way was Williams’ Erica Ekstrand, who kicked off their match on fire. She quickly got out to a one-set lead, winning 6–1, which forced Soloveychik to reassess her approach to the rest of the match. 

“There was definitely a bit of pressure at the start, which is why I couldn’t really play to the best of my ability,” Soloveychik said. “And then I took a break, came back, and tried to see what was working. I just had a more logical approach rather than an emotional one.”

She regained her rhythm and fired back at Ekstrand, tying the match up with a 6–2 second set, and with the third set deciding the match, Soloveychik capitalized on her momentum from the previous set and took care of business in the third, clinching her spot in the final by a score of 1-6, 6–2, 6–2.

On Sunday, Oct. 13, Soloveychik was slated to play Clara Zou, a first-year at the University of Chicago—the team that defeated Wesleyan in last year’s NCAA DIII Championship. While Soloveychik could have used the idea of getting revenge on UChicago for last year as motivation, she and Coach Fried agreed it would be best for her to focus on playing her opponent rather than worrying about what happened last season. 

This worked well and she quickly captured the first set 6–1. With her rhythm established, and her teammates and Wesleyan fans supporting in the stands, she continued to pressure Zou, giving herself an opportunity to win the match. However, this match point had to be played three times, as on back-to-back points, an errant ball from another match traveled onto their court. While this could have rattled Soloveychik, she remained calm and forced Zou to make a backpedaling overhand smash near the net. As Zou missed the ball out right, Soloveychik earned the win and was named the ITA Cup Singles National Champion.

“It’s inspiring to watch [Jackie] play,” Durkin said. “She looks so unbeatable. She’s put in so much work and she’s super talented. We would watch her matches [and] be laughing because it was incredible what she was doing. To be there for her in that moment was really special.”

Looking back on the tournament, and the fall as a whole, the team was proud of their accomplishments both on and off the court. The success on the court was evident, and they have ITA National Singles, Regional Singles, and Regional Doubles titles to show for it. But many players emphasized their growth as a unit, becoming a tight-knit group and supporting either other day in, day out, as their proudest moments of the fall. Both of these will certainly help them as they go into the winter to train and come out in the spring ready to defend a NESCAC title and compete for the National Championship they desire.

“The ones who were here last year want to get back there and win,” Leroy said. “We all want to keep working hard and keep having great team spirit. I want to help as much as I can, and I’m going to try my best, because I want us to win the whole thing.” 

Max Forstein can be reached at mforstein@wesleyan.edu.