CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Following a third straight 5-0 NCAA Tournament victory, the No. 2 nationally-ranked Wesleyan women's tennis team heads into the national semifinal round with a matchup set for Tuesday at 10 AM against No. 12 Kenyon. The match will take place at the Tennis Champions Club in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The Cardinals are in the midst of their national title defense as Wesleyan went on a thrilling run for the first national women's team title in school history back in 2019.
Wesleyan's 5-0 triumph over No. 18 Washington & Lee on Monday morning sent the Cardinals to their second consecutive Final Four appearance. Tuesday's semifinal showdown is just the second all-time meeting between Wesleyan and Kenyon as the Cardinals won the only prior meeting in the series, a 6-3 win on March 10, 2019 in Orlando, Florida.
Wesleyan (9-0) began its title defense on May 14 with a Second Round match against the 2021 Landmark Conference Champion Moravian. In what was the first all-time meeting between the two programs, Wesleyan thoroughly dominated play as the Cardinals swept the three doubles points by a cumulative score line of 24-2 while singles play was even more dominating, as Wesleyan dropped just three total games in the six combined matches before the clinching point was made. That 5-0 triumph for the Cardinals signaled the fifth consecutive contested season Wesleyan has won at least one NCAA Tournament match.
It was more of the same for the Cardinals in the Third Round match as Wesleyan cruised past No. 23 Linfield, 5-0, to advance to the Elite 8 of the NCAA Tournament for the third straight contested season. The 5-0 sweep represented the sixth 5-0 victory for Wesleyan in an NCAA Tournament match and the first-ever for the Cardinals in the Third Round or later. In another first all-time meeting, Wesleyan dominated much to the extend they did in the win over Moravian as the Cardinals again swept all three doubles points, this time by a combined 24-5 margin. In the singles portion, both
Venia Yeung '22 and
Katie Fleischman '23 dropped just three games apiece as the 2021 All-NESCAC First Team selections won the fourth and fifth points to clinch the match for Wesleyan.
The competition ramped up a bit in the Quarterfinal match as Wesleyan was tested in a few matches despite coming away with the 5-0 victory.
Alexis Almy '22 and
Megan Tran '22 staved off a close #3 doubles match, taking a 7-3 victory in the deciding tiebreak to clinch the 3-0 doubles sweep for Wesleyan. This marked the sixth time Wesleyan won all three doubles points in nine total matches in 2021.
Caitlin Goldberg '23 was perfect at #6 singles, recording her second 6-0, 6-0 clean sweep of the 2021 NCAA Tournament to put the Cardinals ahead 4-0.
Serim Jin '23 then finished off the match, earning her first career NCAA Tournament victory with a 6-2, 6-0 win at #4 singles.
The Cardinals are 9-0 so far in 2021 and are riding a 13-match win streak dating back to the 2018-19 season. Wesleyan has defeated ranked opponents in six of their nine total matches (Williams 6-3, Amherst 7-2, Middlebury 7-2, Tufts 6-3, Linfield 5-0 and Washington & Lee 5-0) played this season. This is Wesleyan's fifth straight NCAA appearance – all of which have come under nine-year head coach
Mike Fried. Coach Fried has transformed the program in his tenure as Wesleyan had qualified for the NCAA Tournament just once prior to his arrival. He helped lead the Cardinals to the program's first-ever national title – the first female team sport to win an NCAA Championship in school history – in 2019 that featured 5-4 upset wins over national powers Emory and Claremont Mudd-Scripps in the semifinal and championships rounds. Yeung, Almy and
Kristina Yu '22 were all major contributors in that title run two years ago and are back to help lead the Cardinals in the 2021 NCAA Tournament.
Tuesday's semifinal matchup shapes up to be a great one as Kenyon has a storied history in women's tennis as this is the program's 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.
The winner of Tuesday's match will advance to the NCAA Championship on Wednesday and will face the winner of No. 3 Emory vs. No. 11 Tufts.
