Middlebury, VT – The Colby College women's tennis team traveled to Middlebury College on Friday morning for the opening round of the NESCAC tournament. Entering the postseason as the No. 8 seed, the Mules faced a tough challenge against the tournament's top seed, Wesleyan University, ultimately falling 4-0 in a clinch-format match.
Doubles play was highly competitive, with Colby nearly taking the opening point. Isabella Suk and Michaela Landry delivered a standout performance at the No. 1 position, defeating their opponents 6-2. After the Cardinals took the No. 2 flight 6-4, the doubles point was decided at the No. 3 spot. Jade Finestone and Ella Novion pushed their match to a tiebreaker but narrowly fell 6-7 (5-7), giving Wesleyan the 1-0 lead.
In singles play, the Cardinals secured the necessary three additional points to clinch the victory. Isabella Suk finished first at the No. 6 flight, falling in a 3-6, 2-6 decision. Ella Novion followed at the No. 2 position, where she was defeated 4-6, 0-6. The match was officially clinched at the No. 1 spot, where Jade Finestone fell 4-6, 1-6.
Because the tournament follows a clinch-to-win format, the remaining three matches were left unfinished once Wesleyan reached four points. At the time of the clinch, Soumya Wijesekera had forced a third set at No. 3, trailing 1-6, 6-4, 0-2. Michaela Landry was up 2-0 in her second set at No. 4 after a tight 6-7 (8-10) opening frame, and Tina Barrow was down 0-1 in her second set at the No. 5 spot following a 6-7 (2-7) first set.
The loss concludes the 2026 spring season for the Mules, who finish the year with a 7-11 overall record. Following a successful run to the conference tournament, the team will return to action in September for the start of their fall campaign.
