MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – In a much-anticipated battle between two of the nation's top-five ranked programs, the No. 2 Wesleyan women's tennis team came out on top with a 7-2 victory over the visiting No. 4 Middlebury Panthers on a chilly Saturday afternoon at the John Wood Memorial Tennis Courts. Wesleyan remains unbeaten at 3-0 this season, seizing total control of the NESCAC West Division as the Panthers fall to 1-1 in the modified 2021 spring season.

NOTES

• This top five clash opened in a resounding fashion for the home squad as Wesleyan dominated all three doubles matches, taking a 3-0 lead heading into singles play
• Two doubles matched ended in 8-1 Cardinal victories, starting at No. 1 as the Wesleyan tandem of Venia Yeung '22 and Katie Fleischman '23 posted their first doubles win as a team in three chances so far this season, defeating Emily Bian and Ann Martin Skelly of Middlebury
• Alexis Almy '22 and Megan Tran '22 went to work at No. 3 doubles, defeating Kavina Amin and Gena Huang by the same 8-1 score
• The Cardinals' top doubles pairing all season – Polina Kiseleva '21 and Caitlin Goldberg '23 – remained unbeaten, moving to 3-0 in 2021 with an 8-4 win at No. 2, topping Amy Delman and Sami Remis to give Wesleyan a clean 3-0 sweep heading into singles
• Kiseleva nearly swept both sets of her singles match at No. 3 as she took down Bian by a score of 6-0, 6-1. Now 6-0 combined in singles and doubles in 2021, Kiseleva has won all six sets in singles play by a combined score of 38-13
• A week removed from dominating the Amherst No. 2, Fleischman made quick work of Middlebury's No. 2 Huang as she posted a dominating 6-0, 6-2 victory to seal the overall win for Wesleyan in the early stages of singles play
• Goldberg added to the Cardinal advantage at No. 6 as she took down Neal in a fairly convincing 6-3, 6-2 victory
• Serim Jin '23 continued her unbeaten run in singles play this season with a testy three-set win over Amin at No. 5 as Jin won the first set 6-2 before going into a second set tiebreak in which she pulled out a 7-2 triumph
• In one of the best singles matches of the season thus far, Almy went three sets with Remis in No. 4 as Almy won the first set 7-5 before dropping the second 6-3. In a back-and-forth tiebreak, Almy ultimately lost in a thrilling 14-12 deciding set
• The other Middlebury point on the day came at No. 1 as Delman took down Yeung with a 6-1, 6-3 victory

Doubles

• #1: Yeung/Fleischman (WES) def. Bian/Skelly (MID) 8-1
• #2: Kiseleva/Goldberg (WES) def. Delman/Remis (MID) 8-4
• #3: Almy/Tran (WES) def. Amin/Huang (MID) 8-1

Singles

• #1: Delman (MID) def. Yeung (WES) 6-1, 6-3
• #2: Fleischman (WES) def. Huang (MID) 6-0, 6-2
• #3: Kiseleva (WES) def. Bian (MID) 6-0, 6-1
• #4: Remis (MID) def. Almy (WES) 5-7, 6-3, 14-12
• #5: Jin (WES) def. Amin (MID) 6-2, 7-6 (7-2)
• #6: Goldberg (WES) def. Neal (MID) 6-3, 6-2

MATCH NOTES

• This marked the first meeting between the two powerhouse programs since the 2019 NESAC Championship, a match won 5-2 by Wesleyan in what was the Cardinals' first-ever NESCAC title
• This win marked the first home victory for Wesleyan over Middlebury since 2000
• A win on Sunday over Hamilton would clinch the NESCAC West Division title for Wesleyan (3-0) as both Amherst (1-1) and Middlebury (1-1) would have to win-out while the Cardinals would have to lose their final two matches of the season (both come against Hamilton)
• Winning the NESCAC West Division would seal the Cardinals' spot in the 2021 NESCAC Championship which is set for Saturday, May 8

UP NEXT
The Cardinals (3-0) host Hamilton (0-2) on Sunday, April 18 at 1:00 PM in a match that will also serve as Senior Day for Wesleayn. Prior to the start of play, Wesleyan will honor its three-member senior class including Kiseleva, Daniela Alvarez '21 and Alissa Nakamoto '21.