BRUNSWICK, Me. – The No. 5 nationally ranked Wesleyan women's tennis team continued to roll on Saturday, defeating No. 15 Bowdoin, 8-1, at the Pickard Tennis Courts. The Cardinals (15-0, 8-0 NESCAC) remain undefeated and in the midst of the best start to a season in program history. Playing with a depleted roster that featured just five healthy players, Bowdoin (6-7, 4-3 NESCAC) lost for the third time in the last four matches.
Wesleyan was dominant in the doubles portion, scoring a 3-0 lead that included a win by default at #3 as the Polar Bears were unable to field a third doubles pairing.
Caitlyn Ferrante '23 and
Sasha Gaeth '23 moved to a perfect 11-0 as a pairing in an 8-4 win at #1 over Hannah Buckhout and Elizabeth Yu.
Nika Vesely '25 and
Sophie Henderson '22 followed that up with an 8-3 win at #2 over Fleming Landau and Julia DeLuca.
The Cardinals were tested in three of the five singles matches as Wesleyan was forced into super tiebreakers at #1 and #3 while
Katie Fleischman '23 won her match in straight sets but needed a 7-5 second set victory to secure the win.
Gaeth was the beneficiary of a win by default at #6 as the Cardinals closed to within one point of taking the match.
Kriti Williams '24 won the clinching point in a 6-0, 6-2 victory at #5 over Bailey Prete.
Kristina Yu '22 then won by the identical scoreline at #4 over DeLuca.
Fleischman's match against Buckhout at #2 was competitive but the Cardinal junior triumphed with a 6-3, 7-5 win to move to 11-1 in dual singles matches in 2022. Ferrante was next to finish as she won the first set over Yu, 6-3, before dropping the second set, 7-5. In the third set super tiebreaker, it was Ferrante who triumphed with a 10-5 win in what was her fourth match that was decided in a third set over the last five contests.
Bowdoin did manage to avoid a 9-0 sweep as Landau won in a thriller at #3 over
Serim Jin '23. Landau won the opening set 6-4 before Jin bounced back with a 6-4 second set victory. In the super tiebreaker, extra points were needed before Landau finished off an 11-9 win to salvage one point for Bowdoin in the match scoring.
Wesleyan finishes off its road weekend with a Sunday morning match at No. 26 Colby. Play is set to begin at 10 AM.
