MEDFORD – In a closely-contested NESCAC Championship Match, the Wesleyan University women's tennis team won the 2021 conference title with a 6-3 victory over Tufts University on Saturday at John Wood Memorial Tennis Courts.
For 2021, 10 conference teams have competed in women's tennis. The teams were divided into two divisions, with Tufts winning the five-team East and Wesleyan placing first in the five-team West. In lieu of the typical six-team championship tournament, the Jumbos (6-1, 4-0 NESCAC East) and Cardinals (6-0, 4-0 NESCAC West) went head-to-head for the title in one match on Saturday. In the most recent Intercollegiate Tennis Association national poll, Wesleyan was #2 and Tufts was #11.
The host Cardinals won their second straight NESCAC title and receive the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Championship. Tufts will await a possible at-large bid into NCAA's. Berths will be announced on Monday.
Wesleyan grabbed a 2-1 lead in doubles today by winning a tie-breaker in the #3 match. Alexis Almy and Megan Tran took the breaker 7-0 to secure their match 8-7 and give Wes the advantage heading into singles. The teams had split the other two doubles matches with the Jumbo #1 pair of Maggie Dorr and Caroline Garrido remaining undefeated with an 8-6 win, and the Cardinal duo of Polina Kiseleva and Caitlin Goldberg also remaining unbeaten with their 8-5 win on the second court.
In singles action, Tufts' Casey Cummings won 6-4, 6-1 in the #4 contest to bring the Jumbos even at 2-2. However, the Cardinals earned consecutive victories in the fifth and second matches to gain a 4-2 lead. Serim Jin rolled to a 6-3, 6-2 win for the hosts at #5, while Katie Fleischman was even more efficient (6-1, 6-1) on the second singles court. Freshman Zoe Kava was impressive for Tufts with her 6-4, 7-6 (0) win at sixth singles keeping the visitors within 4-3.
With two matches remaining, Polina Kiseleva earned the clinching victory for Wes with her 6-4, 7-5 final in a good third singles match with Maddie Suk. Wesleyan's Venia Yeung went to a third set to give Tufts' Tilly Rigby her first loss of the year 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 in the #1 match.
Head coach Kate Bayard's Jumbos were making their first appearance in the conference championship match.
