Ephs Defeat Wesleyan 8-1

WILLIAMSTOWN, MA – Two undefeated NESCAC teams faced off on Sunday as Williams overcame Wesleyan University 8-1 to advance to 10-0 on the spring. Wesleyan, meanwhile, dropped to 5-1.

"We were a tough team across the board today," said Williams head coach Anik Cepeda. "It's always fun competing at home, and extra fun to sneak away with a doubles sweep against a program like Wesleyan."

Senior duo Juli Raventos and Julia Cancio led things off for the Ephs, battling Wesleyan's Eudice Chong and Victoria Yu to a 9-8(6) victory. These two teams had a history coming into the day, as Chong and Yu overcame Raventos and Cancio in the doubles finals of the Oracle ITA New England Regional Women's Tennis Championship in October of 2017. That was the second straight title for Chong and Yu, and the second year in a row Raventos had faced the two in doubles finals. In the singles bracket, Chong defeated Raventos in the semifinals after Raventos took the singles title in 2016.

"Juli and JC got their revenge from the Fall ITA," said Cepeda, "and really just committed fully to their plan and executed in crucial moments."

Chloe Henderson '20 and Rachel Cross '21 earned an 8-1 victory to put the Ephs up 2-0 before Giulia McDonnell Nieto del Rio '18 and Emily Zheng '20 completed the doubles sweep with an 8-6 victory.

Chong bounced back against Raventos in the top singles spot with a 6-0, 6-1 win, but that was the only win Wesleyan would secure on the day. Cross and Cancio each followed up their solid doubles showing with singles wins in straight sets 6-2, 6-0 and 7-5, 6-2, respectively. After winning the first set 6-2, Henderson dropped the second 4-6 against Aashli Budhiraja, a senior. Henderson was able to secure the third set 6-1 to earn her second win of the day.

Mia Gancayco '18 and Korina Neveux '19 each earned their first victories of the day to round out the 8-1 win for the Ephs, Gancayco's victory coming 6-2, 6-3, and Neveux's 6-4, 6-1.

"In singles we stayed steady and were able to weather the challenges without derailing from our own game plan," concluded Cepeda. "Looking forward to another week of growth before Amherst and Trinity."

Williams now turns to five matches away, beginning on the 14^th against Amherst at 1:00 PM EDT. The Ephs defeated Amherst 7-2 in their one dual match of the fall season.  

Complete Results: