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This weekend, the Yale women’s tennis team (6–5, 0–0 Ivy) traveled to Montgomery, Alabama, where they battled Texas Tech University (8–4, 0–0 Big 12), Furman University (4–9, 2–0 SoCon) and the University of Alabama (7–3, 0–0 SEC) at the Blue Gray National Tennis Classic.

After a rocky start to the tournament on Friday against Texas Tech, Yale retaliated in a landslide victory against Furman on Saturday. Unable to maintain their dominance, the Bulldogs ended the weekend on a low note with a loss to Alabama.

“Sophomore Jamie Kim competed really well this weekend,” said captain Rhea Shrivastava ’23. “She held her ground against some of the top teams in the nation and got our team the first point on the board against Furman with a decisive win which gave all of us confidence to fight in our matches and pull out that win for the team.”

The Blue and White kicked off their opening match against No. 47 Texas Tech late due to rain delays. The competition saw six singles matches and skipped over doubles. Although Shrivastava, Vivian Cheng ’23, Sophia Zaslow ’26 and Rebecca Lynn ’26 fell to their Texas Tech opponents, Ann Wright Guerry ’26 and Jamie Kim ’25 showed hope for third set clinches before being pulled off the court. Overall, the Raiders toppled the Bulldogs 4–0.

On Saturday, the Blue and White came back ready to fight. After losing the doubles point, Yale clinched four back-to-back points, securing a commanding 4–1 victory.

Furman was an exciting match to get a win over them after just having lost a match to them the previous weekend,” head coach Rachel Kahan said.

Shrivastava defeated Ellie Schulson (6–1, 3–6, 6–4), Cheng toppled Sara Snyder (2–6, 6–3, 6–1), Zaslow beat Jess Dawson (6–2, 6–7 (5–7), 6–0) and Kim broke Madison Dillon (6–2, 6–2).

Shrivastava and Cheng were the sole Bulldogs doubles duo that snagged a win by toppling Dawson and Snyder 6–4.

I think our team succeeded in improving our doubles execution and tactics,” Guerry said.

On Sunday, the Blue and White returned to the courts for a tough fight against the Crimson Tide. First-year Guerry earned Yale’s only point, defeating Alabama’s Petra Sedlackova.

“I want to shout out Ann Wright for having great energy and intensity in this tournament,” Zaslow said.

Going into the weekend, the Bulldogs were a team to watch, having made national ranking on Feb. 21 by coming in at No. 58. They have since fallen off the rankings. Recent competition joined the Bulldogs on the leaderboard last week, with Texas Tech ranked at No. 47 overall and Furman doubles team Dawson and Sara Isabel at No. 51 in doubles.

“We have an off weekend of matches so looking forward to getting some fitness in this week and playing an inter squad scrimmage over the weekend,” Kahan wrote to the News.

After the off weekend, the Bulldogs will return to Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center on March 11 to welcome St. John’s University (6–4, 1–0 Big East) and Fordham University (5–1, 0–0 Patriot).

The Bulldogs are just over one month away from the Ivy League competition. They will take on Brown in Providence on April 1.

GRAYSON LAMBERT
Grayson Lambert is a junior in Jonathan Edwards College from Atlanta, double-majoring in Applied Mathematics and Economics. She covers tennis, men's ice hockey, and crew.