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Over spring break, the Yale women’s tennis team (8–9, 0–0 Ivy) took on six opponents, beginning and ending in Yale’s Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center and traveling to Florida in between.

The Bulldogs kicked off spring break victorious, taking down St. John’s University (10–6, 4–0 Big East) 4–2 and Fordham University (6–6, 0–0 Patriot) 4–3. Yale lost the doubles point to St. John’s but took four lines of singles. Rhea Shrivastava ’23, Vivian Cheng ’23, Sophia Zaslow ’26 and Rebecca Lynn ’26 trounced the Red Storm in singles with scores of (6–1, 6–2), (6–2, 6–3), (6–2, 6–0) and (6–1, 6–0), respectively.

Against Fordham, Cheng and Shrivastava won the Blue and White a doubles match, defeating the Rams 6–4. Chelsea Kung ’23, Ann Wright Guerry ’26, Zaslow and Lynn earned the Bulldogs singles points against Fordham with scores of (6–1, 6–3), (6–1, 6–4), (7–6, 6–4) and (6–0, 6–4), respectively.

Following their victorious weekend, the team ventured to Orlando for their first match in their unsuccessful Florida tour.

“The highlight of the Florida trip was being able to spend so much time together without the usual pressures from classes and homework,” said Guerry. “We also got opportunities to play very talented teams and see how we measure up.”

The Bulldogs fell to the University of Central Florida (7–9, 0–0 American) 0–4. The Knights took two lines of doubles and three lines of singles to shut out the Blue and White.

Yale looked for redemption in their match against East Tennessee State (12–5, 3–0 SoCon). Kung and Guerry were the only victorious Elis against the Buccaneers, winning both singles and doubles. The duo defeated Fernanda Carvajal and Daniela Rivera 7–6, but the Blue and White lost their other two doubles matches, forfeiting the doubles point.

In singles, Kung defeated Mariya Shumeika in a third set tiebreaker (6–7, 6–4, 12–10). Guerry also took until the third set to crank out her (6–4, 1–7, 6–0) victory over Carvajal.

The Elis looked to their match against No. 31 Florida International University (12–3, 2–0 USA) as their final chance at a victory in the Sunshine State, but ultimately fell 5–2. Kung and Lynn were the only two Bulldogs to mark the score board, tallying scores of (6–0, 2–6, 6–3) and (6–3, 5–7, 10–8), respectively.

Back in Connecticut, the Blue and White had one final opportunity to tally a win ahead of Ivy conference play. They welcomed Boston University (12–4, 1–0 Patriot), who ultimately clenched a 5–2 win against their hosts.

Kung and Guerry followed their doubles victory against East Tennessee with a win over BU’s top doubles pair. Kung continued her success with a singles win by toppling Terrier Michelle Kleynerman (3–6, 6–1, 1–0). Shrivastava also posted a win, routing Shelly Yaloz 6–0, 7–5.

“Rhea played really well in the BU match and was able to execute what we were working on from Spring Break,” head coach Rachel Kahan said.

This weekend, the team will travel to Brown to take on the No. 57 Bears in their first Ivy League competition of the season. Yale is currently ranked sixth in the Ivy League, ahead of only Dartmouth and Cornell. Among Ivy League schools, Princeton ranks highest in the national rankings, coming in at No. 46. The Tigers are followed by Brown at No. 57, Harvard at No. 66 and Penn at No. 74.

“I am most looking forward to our Columbia match because we have been very close with them in the past,” said Mirabelle Brettkelly ’25.

Conference play will continue until the Bulldogs’ April 23 match against Cornell.