Another year, another team, a first NATIONAL TITLE. As has become tradition (can something be called a tradition if this is just the second year it’s happening? Tbd, but bear with me) on the women’s side of the Blog, I’m here to detail the journey of the one, the only Victoria Yu. I didn’t set out to write this article solely about the Cardinal senior, but we usually honor the full senior class of the winning NCAA team, but this year, Wesleyan only has one senior.
First of all, a massive congratulations to Wesleyan on winning the program’s very first national title!!! And also, congrats to Victoria on graduation and a wonderful four years of college tennis. This was a huge year for Wesleyan tennis, and to be honest, they were a bit of a dark horse coming into NCAAs, and I think we all (except for Bracket Challenge winner, DLee) underestimated the Cards. But they’ve been dangerous all season, putting their heads down and working hard even when I overlooked them for the glory and kept tooting the horn of the Middlebury power in the Northeast. I apologize profusely for not hyping this Wes team as much as it deserved.
Wes did not come into this tournament as the favorites. People knew they were good – I mean, they had just shocked Midd to take home the NESCAC title, but no one was out there saying “Wes finna win a natty.” I think most people expected an Emory/CMS final and probably expected a CMS repeat. But like Khaleesi rising from the flames in season 1 of Game of Thrones (RIP), the Cards grit and hunger carried them over Emory and ultimately over CMS to lift that trophy for the very first time.
Our lone Wes senior, Victoria Yu, one half of two equally dope dubs teams #YuDice and #DoubleYu, and singles superstar in her own right, was the fire and spirit of this team all season long and embodied a great leader, teammate and inspirer, who led her team to the big dance and was crowned the greatest in the nation. In her four years, Yu has been a presence in the lineup, starting her time as sidekick to the GOAT, Eudice, and ultimately stepping into the top spot her senior year. She is a highly decorated player, but I’ll get into that later, so without further ado, let’s take a look at her journey.
2015-2016 season
Yu flew onto the scene in her freshman fall by making it all the way to the singles finals of the northeast ITA, where she fell to teammate, Eudice. Right from the get go we knew that Coach Fried had found another special talent in the girl from Texas. She then teamed up with Eudice to win the ITA regional and cement her All-American dubs status – as one does their freshman fall. Despite the stellar play from #YuDice in the fall, the doubles team was not yet meant to be, as Yu played most of her freshman year with a mix of Aashli Budhiraja and Helen Klass-Warch at #2. This was a time when the Ephs reigned supreme in the Northeast, and ended the Cards’ run at NESCACs in the semi-finals. The Cards then made a historic run to the third round of NCAAs – the furthest the team had ever been in history (!!) – before falling to the Mammoths.
2016-2017 season
After a historic season, the Cards came back hungry for more. They had started making noise along the NE, and teams were starting to view the Cards as dangerous and true threats in dual matches. This season, Yu stayed at #2 singles and moved up to #1 doubles to pair with Eudice. And Coach Fried continued on his campaign of turning Wes into one of the best programs in the country. The Cards had an incredible regular season, one might call it historic, and they continued to show their strength by reaching the third round of NCAAs for a second year, where they fell to Bowdoin. Despite the loss, Yu continued to polish her resume by adding yet another year as a doubles All-American by winning the doubles individual tournament (!!) and also adding singles All-American status to her accolades after much success in the individual tournament.
2017-2018 season
As seems to be the trend with this Wesleyan team, despite historic past years, it was never enough – the Cards wanted more, and more they certainly fought for. Last season marked the end of the GOAT (Eudice) era at Wesleyan, and was probably the year that most thought Wes had the best chance of taking home the National Championship. Yu continued to play #2 singles and #1 doubles, as she had the year prior, and saw great success both individually and on a team level. After a truly incredible regular season, where they pushed teams they had never really challenged in the past, the Cards continued their momentum into the post-season. They made it one step further at NCAAs, making the trip to the Elite 8 for the first time in program history! Their season ended at the hands of Middlebury – falling for the third year in a row to a fellow NESCAC team in NCAAs. As has proven to be a theme for Yu, she ended her penultimate season on a high note. She made the finals of the singles tournament, where she squared off against teammate Eudice AND pushed her to three sets. Yu ultimately finished as National Runner-Up, garnering singles All-American for the second time in three years. In doubles, #YuDice made it to the finals, but this time fell short in a tough three-setter to the Eph power duo of Cancio and Raventos.
2018-2019 season
The question on everyone’s mind at the beginning of the season was how will Wes fare with the loss of the best player in D3 history? The loss of Eudice (and a pretty star-studded senior class of 2018 all around) definitely cast a shadow over this team, and I think caused a lot of people to overlook Wes as a threat this year. No doubt, they were still strong, but when it came to naming title contenders, we often missed Wes or labelled them as a dark horse. However, Wes responded to the loss of Eudice by adding a fleet of young guns that comprised half of this year’s singles lineup, including Venia Yeung (#2), Kristina Yu (#3) and Alexis Almy (#5). Wes made it through the regular season without much fanfare – they won where expected, and dropped matches to only Middlebury and Emory – both of which were probably expected, as well. However, coming into the post-season, something shifted in the Cards. They played with a hunger and a passion that I’ve never seen before and quickly proved that while they were still a dark horse, they definitely were a threat. They avenged their loss to Midd in the finals of NESCACs to take home the conference title and marched their way through the regionals and Elite Eight matches of NCAAs to make the Final Four for the first time in program history.
In the semis, they faced off against an Emory team who had beat them handily during the regular season. We all expected a battle, but the Wes win definitely came as a shock for most. After going up 2-1 in dubs with wins at #1 and #2, the Cards were locked in absolute battles with the Eagles as singles commenced. Thing shook out quickly with Emory taking wins at #1, #6, #3 and Wes taking matches on #2 and #4. Soon, it was down to one match – Wes freshman, Alexis Almy vs. Emory freshman, Jessica Fatemi. Almy had taken the first set, but the two were locked in a close battle in the second with super long rallies and big courageous play from both players. In the end, it came down to a marathon game on Fatemi’s serve, where the two went to deuce many, many, many times. ASW will yell at me if I don’t give kudos to Fatemi for keeping her composure and making both an overhead and no double faults in that final game, and truly that is quite the accomplishment for any player under such circumstances. Ultimately, though, Almy emerged victorious with her ripping forehand winners to send the Cards to the Championship match.
The next day, Wesleyan took to the courts for the first ever Championship match in school history. They were up against the Athenas of CMS, the defending NCAA Champions. Wes had their work cut out for them, as the Athenas looked unstoppable after their 5-1 drubbing of Midd in the semis. The day started off tense, as two of the three doubles matches went to tiebreaks. Wes emerged with the 2-1 lead heading into singles, but CMS was not going down without a fight. The two teams traded matches in singles, with Victora Yu dropping her last ever collegiate team match in a tight contest with Catherine Allen. Wes took home wins at #2 and #4, with CMS firing back with victories on #3 and #6. Soon enough, the match was locked at 4-4, and it all came down to #4 singles, where Polina Kiseleva (WES) and Sydney Lee (CMS) had just split sets. The two traded games with endless rallies, but it was Kiseleva’s big forehand winners that put Wes over the edge, as she won the third 6-2 to clinch the National Championship for the Cards.
I’d also like to take this opportunity to shoutout both the Cards and the Athenas for incredible sportsmanship and camaraderie shown in this match. For those of you who didn’t see, at the trophy presentation ceremony, the CMS and Wes girls high-fived each other as they went up and got their trophies. If this isn’t #WhyD3, I don’t know what is.
Victoria Yu finished her career as a 3-time All-American in doubles and singles. In Individuals, she teamed up with her sister to earn her third All-American doubles status, as the two made the quarter-final round. Similarly, she advanced to the quarter-final round of the singles tournament, ending her career at the hands of Amherst’s Camille Smuckler, but with another All-American honor.
The past four years have been years of firsts for Wesleyan and I think very few people thought the Cards had it in them to win a national championship without Eudice, but here we are. And honestly, I think Eudice couldn’t be prouder of her team.
The Cards have proved to us that you should never count a team out, and the fight, hunger and passion they played with coming into the post season certainly proves that if you want it enough, you can fight to get it any which way you can. Again, a huge congratulations to Coach Fried and the Wesleyan team for the first NCAA championship in program history!! And Victoria Yu? Well she can end her four years with many accolades and accomplishments to her name, but I think the proudest title she’ll wear is 2019 Division III Team National Champion.