The women’s tennis team moved outside over the weekend but the team didn’t miss a beat, dominating with a 9-0 whitewash over the Colby-Sawyer Chargers and an 8-1 humiliation of the Salve Regina Seahawks, improving their spring record to 4-1. The second two-match winning streak of the season continues their remarkable resurgence from NESCAC doormats during the fall to blooming spring queens.
The victory over Colby-Sawyer was even more impressive than the score indicates because the Cardinals were playing without their undefeated #1 seed, Ashley Brick ’05. Every Cardinal moved up a spot in the lineup with Buu Gichohi ’08 sliding into the starting lineup. Still, only two Chargers managed to win more than one game against the determined Cardinals.
“Our team missed Ashley terribly on Saturday, but after the initial tear or two was shed we stepped it up and sent our opponents back home with a solid thrashing,” said Sarah Connell ’05.
Connell had the closest match of the day, escaping with a 6-3, 6-4 victory, as she was working on a new strategy.
“I was working on hitting through the ball baseball style,” Connell said. “Only a few went over the fence, which might have been a minor disappointment to some.”
Although the score against Salve Regina was almost as one-sided as the match against Colby-Sawyer, the Seahawks were a much more competitive team, having recently one the Commonwealth Coast Conference championship. Flushed with confidence after demolishing Colby-Sawyer, the Cardinals were initially unprepared for the Seahawks.
“Salve Regina was a lot better than we expected them to be,” said Susannah Ragab ’06. “Usually if you get Salve Regina in a draw of a tournament it’s as good as a bye, and that mentality got to us.”
The Seahawks started out the match on fire, grabbing early leads in the first two doubles matches. The number two doubles tandem of Connell and Tory Santoro ’07 fell behind 6-3 before storming back to steal the match 9-7. The Cardinals did not lollygag in their singles matches. Brick, Connell, and Ragab notched straight set victories to clinch the match. Rika Tsuchiya ’06 and Leah Katz ’07 each dropped their second set. Both Cardinals, playing in the #5 and #6 seeds respectively, pulled out dramatic super tiebreak victories. After dropping the second set 6-4, Tsuchiya decided to change her strategy and attack the net. Her new game plan worked well, as she pulled out the 13-11 super tiebreak victory.
“Without a doubt, the Wes women played their finest match of the entire academic year in Newport [against Salve Regina],” said coach Ken Alrutz.
The team has only one more regular season match, against Springfield College on Apr. 19 before they embark for the NESCAC tournament. The recent spate of success has given the team unbridled confidence going into the tournament.
“The NESCAC is home to at least five teams in the top 25, therefore competition will be fierce and no draw will be easy,” Brick said. “But I am confident that we will be ready to play come NESCACs, and that our improvement over the season will continue until the end.”
Connell feels the same way, and she has some winning tactics in mind.
“Mostly I just can’t wait to be out on the court, let out a good yell, do a few pirouettes, and confuse my opponent,” she said.
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