On April 21, the women’s tennis team entered its last regular season match against NESCAC rival Bates College hosted at the home courts determined to win.
“We knew we had to win this match and that we should win this match,” said Anika Fischer ’10. “We needed that momentum going into NESCACS.”
The doubles round showed that determination. Down 6-3, Alex Sirois ’09 and Linda McDougal ’11 came back at second doubles to win by a margin of 9-8.The first doubles tandem of Fischer ’10 and Madalina Ursu ’09 dominated their opponents at net and came out victoriously, 8-4. To clinch the doubles sweep, Ania Prenata ’09 and Lizzie Collector ’09 triumphed at thirds, 8-5.
“Once again the work we’ve dedicated to doubles has paid off,” Fischer said. “Everyone fought hard and was really aggressive. Going into the singles up three is key; it hurts the opponents mentally.”
Right off the bat, the Cards took advantage of the Bobcats’ frustration. At first and second singles Prenata ’09 and Fischer ’09 aced their opponents, followed by wins at the number five and six slot from McDougal ’11and Sirois ’09.
“It was a solid performance by the singles players, especially Ania,” Sirois said. “Anika also pulled out a really great three setter. She was the last match on the court so that was fun to end on a positive note.”
The skirted birds ended the day with a 7-2 victory, 5-4 NESCAC record and overall 11-7 record. At the number six seed in the NESCAC Championship, the Cardinals took on Tufts University at Middlebury College on Saturday, April 25.
With the knowledge that the Jumbos had beaten Bowdoin College 8-1, a team Wesleyan lost to 9-0 earlier in the season, and that Ursu ’09 was unable to compete in the championship, the team was unsure of how far it would go in the competition.
“It wasn’t the right attitude to enter the match with, but there was definitely less pressure on us to win,” Fischer said. “But despite the setbacks the team really stepped it up.”
Although they had only practiced one day together, Fischer and her new partner Rachel Ghorbani ’09 started with a win at first doubles. Unfortunately, the other doubles were not able to pull off a win, setting the Cards back 2-1 with singles still to come.
“Our greatest chance of winning was in the doubles round and the fact that we got one of those wins gave us a lot of hope,” Sirois said. “We weren’t sure how we were going to do in the singles round, but all of our singles players won their first few games right away. We figured out quickly that Tufts wasn’t as spectacular as we thought they’d be.”
The match was at 4-3 when Prenata ’09 and McDougal ’11 were still on the courts. Prenata, who had lost to her opponent 6-0, 6-0 earlier in the season, was momentarily up in the first set but then lost (4-6, 2-6). Although victory was out of sight, McDougal continued to battle and gave her team one last win of the day, which tallied up the score to a 4-5 loss and kicked the Cards out of the NESCAC tournament.
“We were stoked with our results,” Sirois said. “We were playing the number three seed and stayed with them the whole time. Although losing never feels good, finishing 4-5 isn’t that bad. It was a great way to finish the season.”
While the season has come to a close, the team is excited about the prospects of next year’s success. Losing no returning players, despite Fischer ’10 who will be abroad only for the fall semester, this will essentially be the third year in a row of playing together for the majority of the team. With the addition of three new recruits, the team anticipates an improved level of play.
“Not only do we have a two year team coming back, but we have also developed strong friendships which are really important,” Fischer said. “With three new recruits, we are going to have a great year.”
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