On Friday, April 25, the women’s tennis team beat the Ohio Wesleyan University Battling Bishops. Despite the women’s team’s strong record this season, winning three conference matches against The College of Wooster, Wittenberg University, and OWU earlier this month, the most recent win against OWU was significant. Not only was Ohio Wesleyan seeded fifth in the conference, but the match was also the opening round of the North Coast Atlantic Conference tournament.
The Crimson and Gold came out strong, taking all three doubles sets. Second-year Rachel Allen and first-year Olivia Wollner won the first set with a decisive 6–2 score against Wesleyan’s No. 3 team. Not long after, first-years Scarlett Kingston and Eva Lopez secured a 6–1 win. Fourth-year Anna Pastore won the last doubles set in one of her final career matches with the Yeowomen. Pastore partnered with first-year Hannah Soong to bring home a 6–3 win over the first seeded team for the Bishops. All three wins earned Oberlin the doubles point, bringing the score to 1–0 as they headed into the singles matches.
The team was no less dominant in the singles sets, with some doubles stars returning to secure more victories. Allen fought hard, only dropping one game, obtaining a 6–0 win for the first set and a 6–1 for the second.
“Going into the quarterfinals, I really tried to keep a ‘blank slate’ mindset,” Allen wrote in a message to the Review. “I did not want to think about past results or how my opponent might play. I really tried to keep up my energy and focus throughout the match, which I thought I did successfully.”
Pastore once again performed strongly, winning the No. 1 singles match against Wesleyan’s Lily Hershey. She finished her two sets 6–2 and 6–0. Lopez won the final match. Lopez dominated the first set, securing a 6–0 win. In the second set, Lopez’s opponent Evaleigh Garnett threatened a potential comeback, winning three games. Despite this, Lopez remained unbothered by the pressure, stayed calm, and brought home a thrilling 6–3 victory. These three singles wins, each earning one point for the overall match score, brought the final score count up to 4–0, winning the match against OWU for the Crimson and Gold.
The 4–0 win is unique for the conference championship. Under normal season circumstances, all six singles matches are played out in full, meaning a team usually wins by gaining the best of the seven points. However, matches are stopped in the conference championship tournament and a winner is declared once a team reaches four points. Because of this unique rule, Kingston, who had performed strongly in the first set, winning 6–2, was not allowed to finish out the second set.
The win against OWU marks Pastore’s last conference tournament of her Oberlin College career.
“It’s so cliché, but I will always look back on the little moments on and off the court,” Pastore said in a message to the Review. “I won’t ever forget our conference runs, or my undefeated season with Marta [Laska] our [first] year, but I also hold silly moments so close to my heart. My team taught me that even when my entire college career was on the line, there is always a way to have fun with each other. I think of our overnight trips, spring breaks, and team dinners and even when I miss the sport, I know I will always miss them more.”
The Yeowomen fell to the first seeded Kenyon College Owls the next day in the semifinals, they will carry the success of their conference win into next season.
