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Katie Fleischman forehand
Reily Anderson
1
Kenyon KENYON (11-1)
5
Winner Wesleyan WES (10-0)
Kenyon KENYON
(11-1)
1
Final
5
Wesleyan WES
(10-0)
Winner

Match Recap: Women's Tennis |

No. 2 Wesleyan Upends No. 12 Kenyon, 5-1, Advancing to Second Straight NCAA Championship Match

Cardinals look to defend their 2019 national title and become Wesleyan's first-ever back-to-back national champion in a team sport

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The Cardinals are heading back to the NCAA title match. In another dominating showing, the No. 2 Wesleyan women's tennis team defeated No. 12 Kenyon, 5-1, in a Semifinal victory on Tuesday morning. With the win, the defending national champion Cardinals (10-0) advance to the NCAA title match for the second consecutive contested season. Wesleyan's opponent is a familiar one in No. 3 Emory (9-3) as these two sides clashed in the 2019 NCAA Semifinals when the then-No. 4 ranked Wesleyan upset the then-No. 1 Eagles, 5-4, as the thrilling win catapulted Wesleyan to their first national title game in program history.


In what was just the second all-time meeting between the Cardinals and Ladies, Wesleyan jumped out to an early 2-1 lead after doubles play. The Cardinals then went on to win the first set in five of the six singles matches before ultimately earning the match-clinching point with wins at #4, #5 and #6 to land Wesleyan a ticket back to the NCAA Championship match.
 
Wesleyan's win in just the program's second appearance in the NCAA Semifinals ups the Cardinals' win streak to 22 matches dating back to the 2018-19 season. The Wesleyan women's tennis team, already the school's first-ever female team national title winner, looks to become the school's first-ever back-to-back national team champion on Wednesday.
 
Kristina Yu forehand
Kristina Yu '22 won the clinching point in her singles victory at #5

Doubles Highlights:
  • A day removed from coming back to defeat Washington & Lee's #3 pairing in a tiebreak, Alexis Almy '22 and Megan Tran '22 controlled their match throughout against Kenyon's duo of Eleni Dakos and Kayla Pukys as the Cardinals won 8-2, improving to 4-0 in the 2021 NCAA Tournament
  • Wesleyan's top doubles team Venia Yeung '22 and Katie Fleischman '23 continued to roll in the NCAA Tournament, defeating Daria Beshentseva and Erika Oku 8-3 as the duo has won all four NCAA Tournament doubles matches by a combined set score line of 32-7
  • Kenyon was able to hold off a late rally attempt from Kristina Yu '22 and Caitlin Goldberg '23 at #2 as Ilana Blackwood and Victoria Vasquez triumphed with an 8-6 victory, which represented the first point Wesleyan has lost in the 2021 NCAA Tournament
Venia Yeung serve
Venia Yeung '22 improved to 12-1 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, including an unblemished 9-0 record in doubles matches

Singles Highlights:
  • Serim Jin '23 continued what has been a tremendous sophomore season and NCAA Tournament run as she set the tone in singles play with a clean 6-0, 6-0 sweep of Pukys at #4 to make it 3-1 Cardinals. Jin is 8-0 in singles play this season and followed up her 6-2, 6-0 win at #4 yesterday over Washington & Lee, with an even more impressive showing against Kenyon.
  • Goldberg won her team-leading third singles match of the 2021 NCAA Tournament as she won the first set easily over Anna Winslow 6-1, before closing strong with a 6-4 second set victory to give Wesleyan a 4-1 advantage. Playing in her first career NCAA Tournament, Goldberg is now 3-0 in postseason play at #6, has yet to drop a set and has a 45-7 cumulative set score advantage over her opponents.
  • The clinching point came just a few minutes later as Yu won comfortably at #5 with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Blackwood that clinched the Wesleyan victory.
  • Both Yeung and Fleischman were leading in their matches at #1 and #2, respectively, when play stopped. Yeung took the first set 6-4 over Oku and led 2-1 in the second set while her doubles partner Fleischman was up 6-3, 3-2 in her battle against Beshentseva
  • Almy was trailing in her match at #3 against Victoria Vasquez 6-4, 4-2 when play was stopped
Caitlin Goldberg celebrates
Caitlin Goldberg '23 won her team-leading third singles match of the 2021 NCAA Tournament

Doubles:
  • #1: Fleischman/Yeung (WES) def. Beshentseva/Oku (KEN) 8-3
  • #2: Blackwood/Vasquez (KEN) def. Goldberg/Yu (WES) 8-6
  • #3: Almy/Tran (WES) def. Dakos/Pukys (KEN) 8-2
Singles:
  • #1: Yeung (WES) led Oku (KEN) 6-4, 2-1 unfinished
  • #2: Fleischman (WES) led Beshentseva (KEN) 6-3, 3-2 unfinished
  • #3: Vasquez (KEN) led Almy (WES) 6-2, 4-2 unfinished
  • #4: Jin (WES) def. Pukys (KEN) 6-0, 6-0
  • #5: Yu (WES) def. Blackwood (KEN) 6-3, 6-2
  • #6: Goldberg (WES) def. Winslow (KEN) 6-1, 6-4

UP NEXT:
The matchup between the Cardinals and Eagles shapes up to be a great one as the two highest-ranked teams whose institutions made the decision to play in 2021, will face off for the national title on Wednesday. Emory is one of the top women's tennis programs in the nation as the Eagles advanced to their 12th consecutive Final Four this season and the 21st time overall in program history. The Eagles are seven-time NCAA National Champions, won their most-recent title in 2016 and have played in the NCAA Championship match in eight of the last nine contested season.
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