The women’s tennis team improved its overall record to 16–6 after defeating Allegheny College 7–2 on Saturday. The team is now up 2–1 in the conference and looks forward to the North Coast Athletic Conference Championships that begin today at Oberlin. Currently the Yeowomen are 7–3 at home and look to dominate throughout the championship weekend.

Farah Leclercq and Preeya Shah, the only two seniors on this young and talented squad, were also honored in the final home match of the regular season. Both women won their final regular season matches, which helped lead to the overall win against Allegheny.

Leclercq and sophomore doubles partner Grace Porter won the first point for the Yeowomen, dominating 8–3. Leclercq also gave the team points with her victory in singles play; She smoothly took the victory in two sets of 6–1 and 6–3.

“I am very excited about this weekend; I know we will rise to the occasion and play our best tennis and definitely have some fun,” Leclercq said.

Shah and first-year doubles partner Erin Johnson also added points to the Oberlin win column, taking their match 8–6. During singles play, Shah fought back throughout a three-set match against her opponent. After falling behind during their tiebreaker, Shah was able to come out on top, winning 12–10.

“We’ve met with a little bit of adversity, but I truly believe that our team has the will and desire to take these obstacles as a challenge and [I] am ready to leave everything out on the court,” Shah said.

Head Coach Constantine Ananiadis knows the team is ready for the big weekend, despite injuries and sickness. “Our health is our biggest challenge. If we remain healthy we can go all the way and win the tournament. Anybody can beat anyone on any given day, but if we stay positive and handle our emotions, all of them are very winnable matches.”

The women will take on Allegheny in their first championship game this afternoon.