It might have been its first time competing since October, but the Yale women’s tennis team did not show any rust Wednesday at the Cullman Courts, coasting to a 7-0 victory against the Quinnipiac Bobcats.
The Bulldogs (1-0) won all six of their singles matches, as well as their three doubles matches, in straight sets.
No. 1 Reshmi Srinath ’05 led the way, cruising in her singles match past Quinnipiac’s Gabby Pasternak 6-4, 6-2. No. 2 Rashmee Patil ’07 was similarly dominant, rolling 6-3, 6-2 over Tina Hoang.
Srinath said she was happy with the team’s play and thought the match was a good warm-up for the season ahead.
“I was really happy because it seemed like everyone played really solidly,” Srinath said. “We came together as a team and played really well. They’re a good school to play to get started and get everyone in the match mentality.”
In other singles matches, No. 3 Christine Alford ’07 beat Liz Axler 6-1, 6-1, No. 4 Aimee Kim ’07 double-bageled Kat Ehle 6-0, 6-0, No. 5 Lindsey Dashiell ’08 crushed Danielle Rodriguez 6-1, 6-1, and No. 6 Catherine Starr ’08 downed Amy Sarrazin 6-2, 6-0.
Meanwhile, in doubles, No. 1 Kim and Alford defeated Hoang and Pasternak 8-4.
Srinath teamed up with Patil at No. 2 to blank Ehle and Axler 8-0, while Starr and Dashiell, playing at No. 3, beat Sarrazin and Rodriguez 8-2.
The members of the team, which is ranked No. 73 in the country, said they were pleased with their performance on the courts, and they hoped to see continued success in coming matches.
Patil said yesterday’s match was a “confidence booster” for the team.
“We were expecting it to be a fight for sure, but we were expecting to come out on top at the end,” Patil said.
Dashiell said she thought the team felt “really strong” about the match, even with two of the team’s starters sitting out.
“It’s good to have the first match under your belt and not to have a huge struggle with it,” Dashiell said. “I guess Quinnipiac is really just a warm-up and we’re a stronger team than they are, but we were pretty dominant.”
The match also awarded freshmen players their first opportunity to play in a competitive match for Yale, Patil said.
“I think the freshmen had a great match,” Patil said. “They both got to play starting in singles and doubles and that was a really good experience for them.”
The Bulldogs return to action Sunday at home against DePaul University before hosting Seton Hall next Friday.
Srinath said the upcoming match against the Blue Demons will be tougher than yesterday’s contest. But she said she was confident the team, which has been training regularly, will rise to the challenge.
“We’re in really good shape right now, and I’m probably putting in the best work I have right now in terms of footwork and lifting weights in the gym,” Srinath said.