On Saturday, the men’s and women’s tennis teams faced off against Wesleyan, one of the NESCAC’s strongest tennis teams. Both of Wesleyan’s teams are nationally ranked, and came to the Hill boasting strong players and records. Prior to Saturday’s match, the Wesleyan women’s team was undefeated for four matches; the men’s team had only won one out of five. The Continentals entered the match with a 3–5 record on the women’s side and a 2–7 record on the men’s.

The men started off the day with Sam Farber ’20 taking on Wesleyan’s Steven Chen in a pair of close sets, barely losing both with a score of six games to four games in each set, putting Wesleyan up one win. Rob Dotterer ’21 then faced off against Tiago Eusebio of Wesleyan, barely losing the first set with four wins to Eusebio’s six. However, Eusebio dominated the second set, winning 6–2 and claiming another match for Wesleyan. In the third flight, Max Zimmerman ’21 lost two incredibly close 7–6 sets to Cam Daniels, putting Wesleyan up 3–0.

The only win on the men’s side came from Tim Derby ’21. Facing off against Wesleyan’s Princeton Carter, Derby grabbed a win in the first set by one game, winning 7–6. In the second set, Carter came back to take the set 6–3, sending the pair into an intense third set of twenty games.

“It was really a mental test for me because I had stay focused and concentrate on my game plan throughout the match,” Derby said. “He (Carter) had his highs and lows, but I was just trying to think about what I could control on my side of the court. My teammates were also a huge factor, their vocal support during the very close third set tiebreak definitely helped me get over the finish line.”

With support from his teammates and personal focus, Derby was able to pull through by two games, winning the set 11–9 and earning the Continentals their first win of the day. This was Derby’s first win in a NESCAC match and eighth win of the season.

In the next match, Eyad Nagori ’18 faced off against Adrian Roji, and the two also went into a third set after Nagori won the first set 7–5 and lost the second 5–7. Like Derby’s final set, it ran for a long sixteen games, but unfortunately Nagori was edged out by Roji’s performance, losing the final set 6–10, and the win went to Wesleyan. In the sixth and final singles flight, Jafar Sharipov ’21 lost to Wesleyan’s Jon Holtzman by one game in the first set and five in the second.

In the men’s doubles, Wesleyan’s dominant teams defeated the Continentals in all three flights. Farber and Dotterer lost 8–4, Zimmerman and Derby lost 8–6, and Matt May ’21 and Eamon Gibbons ’21, not in any singles matches, were defeated 8–5. The men fought valiantly and held their own against one of the best Division III teams in the nation.

On the women’s side, the Continentals faced an even tougher challenge in Wesleyan’s nationally ranked #4 women’s team. Jane Haffer ’19 faced Wesleyan’s Eudice Chong in the first match, losing both sets but grabbing two wins in the first. In the second flight, Sophia Aulicino ’21 took on Victoria Yu, and lost both sets by only three games to six. Facing Aashli Budhiraja, Audrey Chor ’21 won the first set with a dominant score of six games to two games. This was the first set victory against Wesleyan’s powerful team. Unfortunately, Chor lost the second set, sending the match into a tiebreaking third set. Both players exchanged wins, but Budhiraja won out in the end with ten wins to Chor’s seven, a tough loss for Chor, but still an incredible match.

Ajla Karabegovic ’21 took on Wesleyan’s Polina Kiseleva in the fourth flight, winning one game in the first set and two in the second, but ultimately falling to Kiseleva’s strong performance. In the fifth match, Ndanu Mutisya ’21 faced off against Alissa Nakamoto, grabbing one win in each set, though Nakamoto claimed six in each and the match victory. In the final singles match, Katherine McNally ’18 lost to Helen Klass-Warch in both sets in one of the toughest matches of the day.

Wesleyan’s #4 team similarly dominated in the doubles matches, with the team of Chong and Yu that won an MIT doubles invite earlier this year beating the Continentals’ Haffer and Aulicino with a score of 8–1. Chor and Karabegovic managed to secure 4 wins against Wesleyan’s team of Kiseleva and Nakamoto, who still ultimately won with 8 wins. In Saturday’s final match, Mutisya and McNally faced against another powerful Wesleyan team of Klass-Warch and McCann, losing 8–1.

Despite Wesleyan winning 9 matches to 0 on the women’s side and 8 matches to 1 on the men’s, the Continentals put up a great fight against two of the best Division III teams in the nation. Both teams will continue their seasons with matches against Union College this Thursday at home, followed by two more home matches on Saturday and Sunday.