Story by Ben Lable, Tufts Athletic Communications Intern
MEDFORD, MA (April 18, 2026) – The No. 18 women's tennis team faced off against the No. 42 Colby College Mules Saturday morning on the Vouté Tennis Courts in Medford, knocking off the Mules 6-1. Today, the Bo's helped raise awareness for mental health advocacy in athletics by spotlighting the non profit The Hidden Opponent during the match.
Historically, the Jumbos have been nothing short of dominant against the Mules, entering the contest riding a 28 match win streak that dates back to 1996. Colby has been solid this season, posting an even 6-6 mark so far along with a 2-3 New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) record. After splitting last week's matches against Williams and Middlebury, a win for the Jumbos today would help in the push for higher seeding at the NESCAC championships.
The Bos were able to take the doubles point but were unable to sweep all three matches. At No. 1 doubles,
Brooklyn Bindas and
Natalie Hu improved to 4-1 as a pairing after they took down Isabella Suk and Michaela Landry 6-0 in just 27 minutes. Right behind them,
Rachel Cranley and
Lucy Mitchell broke a two match losing streak by beating Waka Aida and Katherine Lowy 6-2 at No. 2 doubles and clinched the doubles point.
Stephanie Woodbury and Nicole Kintiroglou struggled with Jade Finestone and Ella Novion and fell 6-4 at No. 3 doubles.
As play moved into singles,
Ellie Gershaw wasted no time beating her former team of two years, as she defeated Novion in straight sets, 6-1, 6-1, at No. 2 singles.
After a tough first set at No. 3 singles,
Athena Li won five straight games in the second set against Landry, eventually taking the match, 6-4, 6-1. Li has now won seven singles matches this season.
No. 5 singles saw
Kyra McCandless face off against Tina Barrow. McCandless took care of business yet again, winning 7-5, 6-1 as she improved to 8-2 in her freshman season and secured the match victory for Tufts.
After McCandless clinched the match for Tufts, all remaining matches went to a 10 point match tiebreaker for the third set. At No. 6 singles,
Alyssa Khou had an easy time in the first set, winning it 6-1. Suk then forced a third set after she was able to best Khou 7-5 in the second set. Khou was able to take the match as she won 10-3 in the tiebreak and remains undefeated in both singles and doubles play this season.
Hu took the first set over Soumya Wijesekera 6-1 at No. 4 singles. Wijesekera responded with a 6-4 second set win. In the tiebreaker, Hu pulled out a close one, winning 10-7 to put the Jumbos up 6-0 in the match.
Last to finish was Mitchell at No. 1 singles, she took the first set 6-2 but Finestone came back with a 6-2 set of her own. In the 10 point tiebreaker, Mitchell just barely fell, losing 11-9.
Tomorrow the Bo's will take on the No. 12 Bowdoin Polar Bears in their last NESCAC battle of the season. Last year, Bowdoin took the match-up 5-2 in Brunswick, so the Jumbos will look to get their revenge and take advantage of playing on their home courts. With an 11-4 overall record and a 6-3 conference record, the Jumbos have officially clinched a spot in the NESCAC championships that will be held at Middlebury College from May 1st to the 3rd.
Order of Finish 1, 2, 3,
3, 2, 5, 6, 4, 1
--JUMBOS--
