CHATTANNOOGA, TN. – Under the lights of the Champions Club on Tuesday evening, Sarah Youngberg's '26 third-set heroics laid the groundwork for Mariia Kornilova's '29 27-shot rally as the match point to send the Wesleyan women's tennis team to the 2026 National Championship finals, dropping No. 1 Claremont-Mudd- Scripps in a 4-3 comeback victory.

Rallying from a 3-2 deficit, the 22-2 Cardinals turned out the first Division III loss to the top-ranked Athenas this season. The Cardinals have won 18 in a row, entering the NCAA National Championship match for the fourth time in seven seasons and will face No. 3 WashU on Thursday, May 21, at 1 p.m. EST.

The Cardinals were the first to the big board as the evening action kicked off with a 2-1 doubles clinch. As singles play began, the Cardinals led all six matches, but the Athenas quickly regrouped and jumped to a 3-1 lead with wins at No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3.

Facing Celestina Cedillo at No. 6, Natalia Leroy '28 was the first of the Cardinals to break free, snagging set one in a 6-3 finish. Cedillo tied the match at two, winning three straight games in an identical final score and forced the second tiebreak of the match with a third set. With the set grounded at four, Leroy fought two more wins out and finished with the 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 win to cut the Athenas' lead to 3-2.

Playing side by side at No. 4 and No. 5, Youngberg and Kornilova welcomed the late-night lights with the match on the line. Running to a set one tiebreak at No. 5, Leah Baroudi outpaced Youngberg to an early lead, forcing Youngberg to win two straight. Youngberg did as such and climbed to a 6-4 set two victory after flipping at three to hit the two-game lead over Baroudi. Entering the tiebreaker, Baroudi could not maintain any momentum and was unable to hold a lead after tying the set up. Youngberg held out and tied the semifinal match for the Cardinals at three with a 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 6-4 finish.

Kornilova held the high ground at No. 4 despite playing as the remaining match in action. No stranger to match clinching points, Kornilova upended Bell Zhou in a set one win for the Cardinals and lead after a 6-4 tally. Zhou outlasted Kornilova's efforts to come back, winning three games and stole the set to force a final tiebreaker. Kornilova battled to a 4-2 lead over Zhou before breaking on 27-shot rally in the sixth game to send the Cardinals to the national title match in a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 triumph.

As the clinching doubles wins, Lara Afolayanka '29 and Youngberg defeated Cedillo and Ananya Sriniketh, 6-3. At No. 3 Kendall Smith '29 and Kornilova dropped Zhou and Baroudi, 6-3.

For the Athenas, Lindsey Eisenman defeated Leila Epstein '26 6-3, 6-3 at No. 1. At No. 2, Rebecca Kong finished 6-3, 6-1 over Agnes Guggenheim '29. Sriniketh outlasted Afolayanka 7-5, 7-5 at No. 3.