The Wesleyan women’s tennis team kicked off its season in fine fashion, earning victories over both Hamilton and Skidmore this past weekend.
Leading the way for the Cardinals on Saturday against Hamilton was senior captain Susanna Ragab, who finished 4-0, winning two sixth-seed singles matches, in addition to a pair of third-seed doubles matches while teamed with Lizzie Collector ’09. Freshmen Ania Preneta and Madalina Ursu also added straight set wins as Wesleyan edged Hamilton 5-4.
Carrying their momentum into Sunday, the team comfortably defeated Skidmore 6-3 due to the continuous strong play of Ragab, winning her fifth- seed singles match and her second-seed doubles match. Preneta again provided a youthful force as she won her second-seed singles and doubles matches. Top-seed Rachel Ghorbani ’09 also added a win against her strong Continental opponent.
Ragab praised the other members of the team, attributing the recent success to them.
“I was really impressed with the intensity, maturity, and level of competition that the girls put out on the court,” she said. “We dug deep and were able to pull out the big W.”
After a promising start over the weekend, Amherst came to Middletown to do battle with the Cardinals on Wednesday. Despite a strong effort by the team, the defending NESCAC champions defeated Wesleyan 9-0.
In spite of the loss, the Cardinals are optimistic about the rest of the season. With a large number of freshmen on the team, each player is still finding her niche on the court.
“Our long term goals are working on fitness, mental and doubles strategy,” Ragab said. “Our new freshmen bring a big game and more importantly the desire to win. I hope they can realize the loss to Amherst was a learning experience.”
The team’s long-term goal is to reach the NCAA Championships, but this weekend they must first get by Vassar, a team that went to Nationals last year.
Leave a Reply