The Cardinals proved the most ferocious bird in a match-up of avian foes, as the women’s tennis team inaugurated the spring season with two dominating victories, clipping the wings of the Bentley College Falcons and the Roger Williams University Hawks.
The Cardinals notched their first win of the year by blanking Bentley 9-0, despite the “superb” coaching of former Wesleyan men’s standout Alex Wong ’03. Although Wong’s legendary competitiveness manifested itself in his team’s on-court intensity, they proved to be no match for the deep and talented Cardinal lineup.
“Everyone had an easy match against Bentley,” said captain Ashley Brick ’05. “Even though not everyone played to their full potential, we were able to pull out a victory. It was a great way to kick off the season.”
The Cardinals dominated all day, not dropping a single set against the Falcons.
The Cardinals faced a tougher challenge against the Roger Williams University Hawks, but prevailed, winning by a score of 7-2. Because of conflicting class schedules the team was forced to stagger the order of the matches.
“The women are mentally strong so the staggered starting times seemed not to affect them at all,” said coach Ken Alrutz.
Brick, Susannah Ragab ’06, and Leah Katz ’07, playing in the one, three, and six seeds, respectively, cruised to easy victories in the first round of matches. None of the Cardinals played their opponents to more than three games. Ragab won her match 6-1, 6-1, while Brick and Katz won 6-1, 6-2.
Going into the final round of singles, number two seed Victoria Santoro ’07 was pulled from the starting lineup due to a leg injury. Because the first three matches had already been played out, Alrutz was forced to move Sarah Connell ’05 up two seeds into the number two spot. Rika Tsuchiya ’06 moved up one slot into Connell’s vacated position and Emma Allison ’08, a rapidly improving freshman, started her first match for the Cardinal in the number five position.
Allison dropped the first set 6-0 because of a lack of focus, she said. However, she remained confident.
“I had beaten my opponent and her partner in a doubles match, so I knew I could beat her or at least give her a real match,” Allison said.
Indeed, Allison battled back to take the second set in a tiebreak. Because of time constraints, the match was forced into a super tiebreaker format instead of a third set. Allison lost the super tiebreaker 10-7.
“I wasn’t very tired or worn out after the first two, but my opponent looked like she was about to pass out,” Allison said. “If I had gone into three sets I would have run her out of the match.”
Tsuchiya also struggled in her first set. Managing to eke out a tight 6-4 triumph before finding her rhythm in the second set, Tsuchiya hammered her opponent 6-4 in the second, using powerful ground strokes and deft placement to take the victory.
Connell, playing as the number two seed for the first time in her career, rose to the challenge, confounding her opponent with a dizzying array of shots en route to a 6-3, 6-2 victory. Connell also credited an unusual pre-match ritual as the key to her success.
“I shaved my armpits right before the match so I felt a little lighter on my feet,” she said.
Alrutz commented that the two victories are indicative of the team’s potential for the rest of the season.
“The team has spent quite a bit of practice time working on match aggressiveness,” said Alrutz, “Their hard work is definitely showing in their recent performances.”
The Cardinals were defeated by Mt. Holyoke, 5-4 in a match played Wednesday. Despite taking all four of the singles points, the team suffered a sweep in doubles play. Regardless, the narrow defeat to the regionally ranked Lyons was an encouraging sign for the rest of the season.
The season continues with a home match against Colby-Sawyer on Saturday.
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