MEMPHIS, TN. – Facing a familiar foe in the opening round of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Indoor National Championship, the No. 3 Wesleyan women's tennis team shook a hard-fought loss to No. 6 Emory College on Friday afternoon in a 5-3 defeat from the Leftwich Tennis Center at the University of Memphis.
It's been nine months since the Cardinals and the Eagles last met in competition in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA National Tournament, and this time the Eagles prevailed. The Eagles took an early lead through doubles play, sweeping all three matches to take the go-ahead point.
Despite locking in with the point advantage, the Eagles lost their lead early on as freshman
Olivia Chalik '28 at No. 6 tied the match up at one with the Cardinals' opening point. Rachel Hernandez was unable to catch Chalik in set one but busied herself back into contention with three straight points at the end of set two before Chalik closed the match at 6-2, 6-4.
Following Chalik's match tying point,
Leila Epstein '25 put away her win at No. 4. Epstein was able to keep Yanire Marte at bay through set one, holding the Eagle to a two-point deficit before running away through set two to finish with a 6-4, 6-3 final score, giving the Cardinals their only lead of the match to jump the Eagles
Playing a familiar face in Iris Berman,
Lane Durkin '27 was the Cardinals' third and final point of the afternoon with a victory at No. 3. Berman gained an early lead in the first with a three-point run before Durkin was able to register her own. Dominating the second half of set one, Durkin came out on top and dominated set two to finish with a 7-5, 6-3 tally.
Filling out the top of the Cardinals' lineup,
Jackie Soloveychik '27, the No. 1 singles player in the nation, and
Sarah Youngberg '26, each were forced to a tiebreaking third set. Soloveychik won set one but ultimately fell 6-3, 3-6, 3-6. Youngberg at No. 2 tied her match in the second set and a third set went to the Eagles in a 4-6, 6-4, 1-6 defeat.
The Cardinals will face Sewanee in a consolation match on Saturday, March 1, at 9 a.m.
