Box Score NORTHAMPTON, MA. – It was an All-Wesleyan final on Saturday afternoon for the Wesleyan women's tennis team, competing at the New England Women's Invitational Tennis Tournament for the first time since 2023. The tournament, hosted by Smith College and Mt. Holyoke, awarded
Sarah Youngberg '26 the Christine Davis Sportsmanship Award, joining teammate
Leila Epstein '26 with honors.
The Chris Davis Sportsmanship Award is awarded annually to a junior or senior women's tennis player who exemplifies the values of former Smith College head tennis coach Chris Davis. Those values are to compete with grace, passion, and commitment every day and in every competition. Youngberg, now a senior captain, has represented the Cardinals at home and on the national stage. Always the first to shake hands with a gracious smile on her face in victory and defeat, Youngberg has led her team with charisma and honor.
The NEWITT format is set bracket style with teams of two or three competing in a best of three round to advance. Each round consists of two singles matches and a doubles match. The Cardinals fielded three teams in the A-Draw.
Facing Amherst's top team in the semifinal, Epstein and Youngberg defeated Tina She and Karolina Dobiecka to advance to the finals. The duo pulled out a 6-1 doubles win as Youngberg sealed the win with a 7-5, 6-1 match win over Dobiecka. She defeated Epstein 6-4, 7-6 (5). Set to face each other in the coinciding semifinal match, the WES 2 team of
Mariia Kornilova '29,
Natalia Leroy '28, and
Lara Afolayanka '29 and the WES 3 team of
Agnes Guggenheim '29 and
Lucinda Gatsiounis '28 did not play with the tournament called in Wesleyan's favor.
With all three teams reaching the quarterfinals, it was an MIT matchup through the bracket. Epstein cleared Chloe Zeng with a 7-5, 6-2 final while Youngberg went three sets with Megan sun. Sun took set one in a tiebreak, but it was Youngberg that rallied back and ultimately finished with a 6-7 (5), 6-1, 12-10 tally. Zeng and Carly Chen earned the doubles win at 6-3.
Leroy and Kornilova picked up a doubles win over Sophia Yang and Rayna Li at 6-2. Leroy gained a singles win over Yang at 7-5, 6-3, but Afolayanka fell to Li, 6-3, 2-6, 10-5. The Cardinals picked up singles wins from Guggenheim and Gatsiounis as the No. 3. Guggenheim defeated Fiona Lee in three sets, taking the win 0-6, 6-4, 10-4. Another three sets went to Gatsiounis over Katie Driscoll with a 1-6, 6-3, 11-9 final. Driscoll and Lee earned the doubles win with a 7-6 (4) finish.
Next up for the Cardinals is the ITA Cup in Rome, Georgia on Oct. 16.
