AMHERST, MA. – It is by no stroke of luck that the Wesleyan women's tennis team has once again raised the banner as Little Three Champions. Winning a seventh-straight title, third-ranked Wesleyan defeated No. 18 Amherst College 5-2 on Saturday morning, advancing to 14-2 on the season as they sit atop the NESCAC undefeated.
Building on the success of six previous titles, the Cardinals defeated Williams on March 7 in a complete 7-0 sweep down the line as they waited for the Mammoths at the tail end of the season.
Undefeated at 10-0 as the No. 3 doubles pair for the Cardinals,
Mariia Kornilova '29 and
Kendall Smith '29 dished out a 6-4 win over Sophie Diop and Greta Stechschulte. The duo clinched the doubles point following
Sarah Youngberg '26 and
Lara Afolayanka's '29 win at No. 2, defeating Tina She and Karolina Dobiecka, 6-3.
Youngberg was the first of the singles match wins for the Cardinals, stationed at No. 5. Youngberg dropped just four games to Rachel Roth, turning out a 6-3, 6-1 finish. On Youngberg's heels,
Natalia Leroy '28 returned a 6-3, 6-3 point at No. 6 as she defeated Lily Dounchis.
Much like her counterpart at No. 5, Kornilova was quick to wrap up her matchup with Stechschulte at No. 4 with a 6-1, 6-3 victory. At 17-1 overall, with a perfect dual and conference record, Kornilova leads all Cardinals, winning her 15
th consecutive match.
At No. 3, Afolayanka forced Cody Huang to a tiebreaker after falling in set one. Afolayanka rallied a second set victory and turned out a 2-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-6) final for the Cardinals just in time to celebrate.
The Cardinals return on Sunday, April 26, to face Hamilton in the final match of the regular season beginning at 10 a.m.
