ORLANDO, Fla. – In a thrilling 3+ hour battle in the intense 90+ degree Florida sun at the USTA National Campus on Sunday afternoon, the No. 5 ranked Wesleyan women's tennis team narrowly fell short to No. 7 Emory in the NCAA Tournament Quarterfinal stage. The Cardinals were downed by the Eagles in a 5-3 decision, as Wesleyan (19-2) sees their season come to an end.
A heartbreaking result marks the end of another incredible campaign for the Cardinals, who advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinal (Elite 8) for the fifth straight season while winning the NESCAC Championship for a fourth straight year.
Wesleyan was coasting in doubles play, as the Cardinals took a 2-0 lead and were winning at #1 before Emory rattled off a crucial comeback win that resulted in a big momentum shift heading into singles.
Sarah Youngberg '26 and
Renna Mohsen-Breen '25 rolled at #3 doubles, defeating Eliza McPherron and Iris Berman 8-4. Nika Vesley '25 and
Caitlyn Ferrante '23 followed up minutes later with an 8-5 triumph at #2 over Izzy Antanavicius and Alexa Goetz.
But perhaps the match that changed everything was #1 doubles as Emily Kantrovitz and Ana Cristina Perez combined for an 8-6 win over
Kristina Yu '22 and
Sasha Gaeth '23. That win to end doubles play flipped momentum even with the Cardinals leading 2-1 heading into singles.
Emory proceeded to win the first set on five of the six courts to open singles play, with Perez evening the score at 2-2 with a 6-1, 6-2 victory at #3 over Ferrante. Berman completed her match with a win over Youngberg 6-3, 6-2 at #5 before Vesely managed to break the Eagle run with a 6-4, 6-0 victory at #1 over Stephanie Shulman.
The Eagles moved to within one point of the match when Emily Kantrovitz defeated
Leila Epstein '26 by a score of 6-4, 6-2 at #2.
Needing wins in both remaining singles matches, both Yu and Mohsen-Breen showed great resolve in battling back from one set down, as each won the second set of their matches. However, after Yu won the opening game of the third set at #4 against Ilayda Baykan, the graduate student lost five consecutive games before a code violation for time (due to injury from heat exhaustion) resulted in a game penalty that led to the clinching point for Emory.
Mohsen-Breen was leading 4-6, 6-4, 5-3 in her match at #6 against Alexa Goetz when play was halted.
