Waterville, Maine - The Colby College Women's Tennis Team defeated visiting Bates College by a score of 9-0 on Saturday, May 1 st . Facing windy conditions, both teams played consistently in the doubles, with the Bobcats starting strong in all three positions early on. Down 1-5 in their eight-game pro set, first-year Sam Riordan and Sydney Landau mounted a monstrous comeback to defeat the #2 Bates Doubles team 8-6. Senior Callie Nesbitt and Junior Lindsey Hernandez fended off a late-stage comeback by the #1 Bates doubles team to win 8-6. Junior Carly Levitz and Sophomore Caleigh McClain had the closest doubles match of the day, winning the tiebreaker 7-4 at #3 doubles to put the Mules up 3-0 heading into singles.

Singles was equally as dominant for the Mules. Starting off the singles sweep was Landau's win at the #5 position with the loss of only three games. The Mules soon took every match in straight sets with the exception of the #1 singles position, where Levitz used her trademark consistency and fight to squeeze out an epic contest, winning 10-7 in her third set tiebreaker.


It was an extra special win for the Mules, as it was the last match for Seniors Callie Nesbitt (pictured top left) and Isha Banerjee (pictured bottom left). During the course of their time at Colby, the women's tennis team has reached incredible new heights. During their freshmen year, Nesbitt and Banerjee led Colby to a season-ending national ranking for the first time in 15 years during the 2017-2018 season. With title wins at the fall NEWITT tournaments as well as strong play in the selective ITA tournaments, their success and achievements have paved the way for a dramatic rise in the program. Case in point: Nesbitt and Banerjee clinched a 6-3 victory for the then #40 th ranked Mules over the then #27 ranked Bobcats 6-3 in 2018, which was considered a big upset for the Mules. And today, they led the team to a 9-0 sweep.

For Banerjee, fighting alongside her team and especially fellow senior against the tough conditions only shows how strong the Mules have become. "I am so incredibly proud of our team. We were faced with very difficult conditions today, yet we were all able to grind and push in order to come out the winners today!" For Nesbitt, today was the perfect end to a stellar career. "I am beyond proud of the girls today and how they competed. This was the perfect day and way to end my career and a special shout out to Isha. She is absolutely amazing and is going to do great things in life. Wouldn't have wanted to go through the last four years with anyone else. Go Mules!"

The Mules have now completed their 2020-2021 spring season, ending at 4 wins and 1 loss.

Colby d. Bates 9-0
Doubles:
#1. Callie Nesbitt/Lindsey Hernandez (CWT) d. Hannah Sweeney/Haley Washington (BWT) 8-6
#2. Sam Riordan/Sydney Landau (CWT) d. Joanna Atwater/ Alexandra D'Aquino (BWT) 8-6
#3. Caleigh McClain/Carly Levitz (CWT) d. Victoria Scott/Laura Littlefield (BWT) 8-7(7-4)
Singles:
#1. Carly Levitz (CWT) d. Hannah Sweeney (BWT) 2-6, 6-4, 10-7
#2. Callie Nesbitt (CWT) d. Joanna Atwater (BWT) 6-3, 6-4
#3. Lindsey Hernandez (CWT) d. Victoria Scott (BWT) 6-4, 6-0
#4. Sam Riordan (CWT) d. Alexandra D'Aquino (BWT) 6-2, 6-3
#5. Sydney Landau (CWT) d. Haley Washington (BWT) 6-1, 6-2
#6. Caleigh McClain (CWT) d. Abigail Zerbey (BWT) 6-1, 6-4