MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – The No. 15 Tufts women's tennis team jumped out to an early 2-1 lead in doubles play at No. 8 Wesleyan on Sunday afternoon, but the Jumbos weren't able to hold on, falling to the Cardinals, 5-4.
With the setback the Jumbos are now 10-5 this season and 4-3 in NESCAC matches this spring. Wesleyan improves to 7-4 overall with a 4-4 mark in NESCAC play.
The visitors jumped out to an early lead in doubles play, taking the matches in the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles positions. Junior Conner Calabro and freshman Tomo Iwasaki took on Wesleyan's Victoria Yu and Aashli Budhiraja at No. 2 doubles and edged the Cardinal pair, 9-7. At No. 3 doubles, junior Chelsea Hayashi and sophomore Zoe Miller were able to pick up an 8-5 win over Nicole McCann and Dasha Dubinsky.
The win for the Cardinals in doubles play came at No. 1 doubles as Eudice Chong and Helen Klass-Warch were able to beat the Jumbo pair of sophomore Lauren Louks and rookie Mina Karamercan, 8-2.
The Jumbos extended their lead in singles play, as Calabro topped Helen Klass-Warch at No. 3 singles, 6-3, 6-2 and Iwasaki downed McCann at No. 4 singles, 6-0, 6-2. But, the Cardinals won the remaining four singles matches to secure the 5-4 win.
The Cardinals started with a win at No. 5 singles by Dubinsky over Miller (6-4, 6-2). At the No. 1 spot, Chong, the topped ranked singles player in the country, beat Louks (ranked No. 30), 6-2, 6-4. Hayashi fell to Budhiraja in the sixth position, 6-2, 7-5. The last in for the Cardinals came at No. 2 singles as ninth ranked Yu was able to edge Karamercan (ranked No. 42), 6-4 7-5.
The Jumbos will take the courts again on Saturday when they host Bowdoin and Williams at the Voute Courts. The match with Bowdoin will begin at 10 am, followed by a duel with Williams at 4 pm.
