CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The defending national champion No. 2 Wesleyan women's tennis team is set to make a return trip to the NCAA Semifinals after a 5-0 victory over No. 18 Washington & Lee (16-3) in a quarterfinal match on Monday morning. The Cardinals (9-0) will take onNo. 12 Kenyon (11-0) on Tuesday at 10:00 AM, with a trip to the NCAA Championship match on the line.



Wesleyan's 5-0 triumph is the third consecutive clean sweep victory so far in the 2021 NCAA Tournament as the Cardinals previously defeated both Moravian and No. 23 Linfield in the two prior rounds. This marks a second Final Four trip in program history for Wesleyan, both of which have occurred in the last two contested seasons of the NCAA Tournament.

Off to the Final 4? pic.twitter.com/d4fD8tVzZA

— Wesleyan Athletics (@wes_athletics) May 24, 2021

?? @wes_tennis post-match reaction

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— Wesleyan Athletics (@wes_athletics) May 24, 2021

HIGHLIGHTS:

• For the third straight match and the sixth time in nine matches this season, Wesleyan jumped out to a 3-0 lead by sweeping all three doubles points.
• Venia Yeung '22 and Katie Fleischman '23 throughly dominated at #1, defeating Taylor Garcia and Margaret Carlton 8-1. In three NCAA Tournament matches, Yeung and Fleischman are 3-0 and have won those three matches by a cumulative game score of 24-4.
• Nearly as dominant throughout this postseason run, Kristina Yu '22 and Caitlin Goldberg '23 continue to roll as they toppled Gabi Moss and Becket Waters at #2 by a score of 8-2. Yu and Goldberg remain unbeaten as a team at 3-0 and have dropped just five of 29 games.
• The 3-0 doubles sweep did not come easily, however, as Alexis Almy '22 and Megan Tran '22 were locked in a spirited battle at #3 as the match went into a tiebreak, which the Cardinal duo ultimately pulled away with a 7-3 victory over Kaitlyn Chalker and Nell Covington.
• Needing just two singles victories to clinch the match, Goldberg quickly made it 4-0 Wesleyan as she swept both sets at #6 over Waters, 6-0, 6-0, as the sophomore earned her second 6-0, 6-0 singles sweep in NCAA Tournament play. Goldberg is tied with Fleischman for the team-lead with five victories so far in the NCAA Tournament.
• After trading games early in the opening set, Serim Jin '23 clinched the match in a dominating showing as she defeated Izzy Koziol 6-2, 6-0 at #4 to give the Cardinals the clinching point. That win was Jin's first career victory in an NCAA Tournament match.
• In the remaining four singles matches, Yu was just one game away from defeating Carlton at #5 as she was leading 6-2, 5-0 when Jin wrapped up her victory while Yeung was about to serve for the match at #1 with a 6-3, 5-3 lead over Garcia.
• Fleischman won the first set over Valerie Marshall, 6-1, at #2 but was locked in a heated 4-4 dual in the second set when play was stopped.
• Almy, meanwhile, staved off Moss at #3 as the junior dropped the opening set 6-2 and was trailing 4-1 in the second set only to battle back to a 5-4 deficit when Jin finished her match.

Doubles:

• #1: Yeung/Fleischman (WES) def. Garcia/Carlton (WLU) 8-1
• #2: Yu/Goldberg (WES) def. Moss/Waters (WLU) 8-2
• #3: Almy/Tran (WES) def. Chalker/Covington (WLU) 8-7 (7-3)

Singles:

• #1: Yeung (WES) led Garcia (WLU) 6-3, 5-3 unfinished
• #2: Fleischman (WES) led Marshall (WLU) 6-1, 4-4 unfinished
• #3: Moss (WLU) led Almy (WES) 6-2, 5-4 unfinished
• #4: Jin (WES) def. Koziol (WLU) 6-2, 6-0
• #5: Yu (WES) led Carlton (WLU) 6-2, 5-0 unfinished
• #6: Goldberg (WES) def. Waters (WLU) 6-0, 6-0

UP NEXT:
Wesleyan heads into the NCAA Semifinal round where a matchup against No. 12 Kenyon awaits. The two sides have met just once before, with the Cardinals coming away with a 6-3 win on March 10, 2019 in a match that was played over Wesleyan's spring break in Orlando, Florida. Kenyon is an annual national title contender as this is their 22^nd NCAA Tournament appearance and 10^th Final Four trip. Kenyon has won three national titles while this is the program's first semifinal appearance since 1997.