ROME, Ga. – For the third straight contested season, the defending national champion Wesleyan women's tennis team is headed to the Quarterfinal round of the NCAA Tournament. The Cardinals didn't take their time either, dominating No. 23 Linfield in a 5-0 victory on Saturday morning that sends Wesleyan to the Elite 8 which will commence next weekend in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Wesleyan awaits their Quarterfinal opponent which will be the winner of tomorrow's Third Round match between No. 18 Washington & Lee and No. 24 Denison.
This is the third NCAA Quarterfinal appearance in program history for Wesleyan women's tennis, all of which have come in the last three contested seasons of the NCAA Tournament (since 2017-18). Wesleyan improves to 3-2 all-time in the NCAA Tournament Third Round while this represented the sixth 5-0 national tournament sweep and the first for the Cardinals in the Third Round or later of the NCAA Tournament. This was the first all-time meeting between the Cardinals and Wildcats.
HIGHLIGHTS:
- Much like yesterday's convincing 5-0 victory over Moravian, the tone was set in the early going as Wesleyan controlled the doubles portion, sweeping all three points while defeating the Wildcats by a combined score of 24-5
- Alexis Almy '22 and Megan Tran '22 were first to finish in the doubles portion at #3, taking down Maggie Fiocchi and Allena Wong 8-1
- The remaining two doubles matches finished moments later as Venia Yeung '22 and Katie Fleischman '23 rolled at #1 while Kristina Yu '22 and Caitlin Goldberg '23 won at #2 by an identical score of 8-2
- The singles portion was more of the same as Fleischman was first to finish, defeating Taryn Fujimori 6-2, 6-1 at #2. Combined with yesterday's results where Fleischman was a multi-match winner, the sophomore now has two wins in her first two NCAA Tournament appearances
- Clinching the fifth Cardinal point and match was Yeung at #1, as the 2019 NCAA Singles Tournament runner-up defeated Tessa Kern 6-1, 6-2 to seal the Wesleyan victory
- In the four unfinished singles matches, Wesleyan won the first set in three of the four as Goldberg was well on her way at #6, leading Fiocchi 6-2, 3-0 when play stopped
- Both Serim Jin '23 and Yu were locked in more competitive second sets as Jin led 6-1, 3-2 in her match at #4 while Yu was up 6-2, 2-1 at #5
Katie Fleischman '23 is now 4-0 in the 2021 NCAA Tournament, earning two wins in both the Second and Third Round
Doubles:
- #1: Yeung/Fleischman (WES) def. Kern/Matsunaga (LIN) 8-2
- #2: Yu/Goldberg (WES) def. Haley and Taryn Fujimori (LIN) 8-2
- #3: Almy/Tran (WES) def. Fiocchi/Wong (LIN) 8-1
Singles:
- #1: Yeung (WES) def. Kern (LIN) 6-1, 6-2
- #2: Fleischman (WES) def. T. Fujimori (LIN) 6-2, 6-1
- #3: Matsunaga (LIN) led Almy (WES) 6-4, 1-2 unfinished
- #4: Jin (WES) led H. Fujimori (LIN) 6-1, 3-2 unfinished
- #5: Yu (WES) led Wong (LIN) 6-2, 2-1 unfinished
- #6: Goldberg (WES) led Fiocchi (LIN) 6-2, 3-0 unfinished
Venia Yeung '22 picked up two wins, moving her to 10-1 all-time in NCAA Tournament matches including an unblemished 7-0 record in doubles
UP NEXT:
Wesleyan's Quarterfinal opponent will either be No. 24 Denison or No. 18 Washington & Lee as the two sides will meet tomorrow in the NCAA Third Round. Wesleyan is 1-0 all-time against Denison (only meeting came back in 2017) while a match against Washington & Lee would be the first all-time meeting.
