CHATTANOOGA, TN. – Defined by youth and unmatched perseverance, the fourth-ranked Wesleyan women's tennis team returns to Middletown as the 2026 NCAA Division III National Champions for the second time in program history, defeating No. 3 Washington University – St. Louis, the defending champions, in a 4-1 final. Head coach Steph Yanosov makes history, winning her first national title in her first season while leading Wesleyan to a 23-2 season record.

The 2026 National Champions join their predecessors, the 2019 National Champions, in the Wesleyan history books as the fourth title in Wesleyan Athletics history and saddle up with 2024 men's crew and 2018 men's lacrosse. The Cardinals' 23-2 finish ranks second all-time to the 23-1 season in 2022. Thursday afternoon's victory is the fifth national title for a NESCAC team this year and marks the 185^th national championship victory for the conference.

The Cardinals and the Bears previously met this season on March 13, in the opening matchup of the annual Spring Break trip. The Bears outlasted the Cardinals in a 4-3 defeat, the second and final loss for the Cardinals.

Marked by one of the best recruiting classes in the nation, the story of the 2025-26 Cardinals has been the lineup sourced by underclassmen. As the season began in Tennessee at the ITA Indoor National Championships, the Cardinals to were forced to make peace with the loss of Lane Durkin from the lineup. All four freshmen entered the lineup under the direction of captains Leila Epstein '26 and Sarah Youngberg '26 and held fast when each were momentarily sidelined.

Running undefeated as the 2026 NESCAC Champions, the Cardinals entered the NCAA Tournament and were quick to send No. 9 Washington & Lee home in the quarterfinals before knocking No. 1 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps from the tournament. Without No. 2 U. Chicago in the way, the Bears returned to the national finals for the second year in a row to face the Cardinals with a defeat of No. 5 Babson.

While the Bears boast the top-ranked doubles team of Caitlin Bui and Eleanor Archer they were no match for Epstein and Lucinda Gatsiounis '28 as play began. Archer and Bui climbed to a 3-0 lead at No. 1 but could not keep composure once Epstein and Gatsiounis returned five in a row and smashed a sixth game to clinch doubles for the Cardinals in a 6-4 final. At No. 3, Kendall Smith '29 and Mariia Kornilova '29 ran back five games to serve Sam Slowik and Lily Brecknock a 6-2 defeat.

The Bears managed to tie the match up at one following a singles victory at No. 3 but all efforts were dashed as Youngberg dropped a 6-4, 6-2 win over Amber Edmonds on court five. Edmonds fought Youngberg every step of the way through set one yet could not catch Youngberg's maintained lead throughout.

Kornilova advanced the Cardinals to a 2-1 lead with her win at No. 4. As the next Cardinal to finish, Kornilova defeated Ally Lin in a 6-4, 6-4 victory. Kornilova sped by Lin early in set one, looking to hold a proper advantage but was caught off guard when Lin rallied three games late in the set. Unable to follow through on her advances, Lin's lead in set two disintegrated under Kornilova's late run.

Now sitting on a 3-1 lead with three matches still in play, the Cardinals' match point hinged on three tiebreaks. Facing Nina Moravek at No. 6, Natalia Leroy's '28 efforts to tie her match with a 4-6, 7-6 (7-1) score created extra time for Epstein and Agnes Guggenheim '29. Her match would go unfinished.

At No. 1, Leila Epstein played a career defining match against Eliana Hanna. While defeated in set one, Epstein caught Hanna on a three-game run and won five straight and forced Hanna to a 6-7 (5-7) tiebreak. Epstein clawed to a 5-1 advantage in set two, winning out 6-3 before entering the third set where she led prior to Guggenheim's final point.

Next door, Guggenheim led Archer through two and a half sets at No. 2. Archer was quick to rule set one a victory in her favor with a 6-4 finish but nonetheless set two fell to Guggenheim. Guggenheim tied Archer at four with the first of three games that would hand her the win heading into set three. Guggenheim upended Archer with the tiebreaker underway, reaching a 5-3 margin before collapsing the match on a break with the match point in a historic 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 win.

At No. 3, Lara Afolayanka '29 fell to Bui 2-6, 5-7 in the lone point declared by the Bears.

Assistant coach Roland Thornqvist receives his fifth career national championship, his first with the Cardinals.