The Colby women’s tennis team fell in its first two New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) matches of the season against 12th-ranked Tufts University and 30th-ranked Trinity College. The losses were the Mules’ first since returning from Orlando, Fla., where they won all six of their matches.

Colby opened its annual spring break trip with a 9-0 sweep of Elmhurst College. The next day, the Mules faced Merrimack College and Birmingham Southern College in a double-header. Colby won both matches, defeating Merrimack 6-3 and Birmingham Southern 8-1. The next day brought another double-header against the State University of New York at New Paltz and Oglethorpe University, again taking both matches 6-3 and 7-2, respectively. The final match of the trip saw Colby take a 7-2 win over Pacific University, 7-2.

The first doubles team of captain Kathryn Vergeyle ’12 and Sarah Wiener ’13 had a near-perfect spring break, earning five straight victories before falling to Pacific in the finale. Mckenzie Love ’13 (fifth and sixth singles) and Sally Holmes ’13 (third and fourth singles) each posted perfect records in singles. The Mules also benefited from strong performances by Victoria Abel ’14, Tess Perese ’14, Sarah Wiener ’13 and Erica Talamo ’15.

This past Saturday, March 31, the Mules traveled to Medford, Mass. for an indoor match with Tufts. One of the stronger teams in the nation despite a few injuries, Tufts was able to dictate the match from the outset, winning 9-0. Vergeyle and Wiener teamed up at first doubles for the closest of the doubles matches, falling by a single break, 8-5. Perese, at second singles, took her opponent to a third-set super-tiebreaker, losing 1-6, 6-2, 10-6. Vergeyle (third singles, 6-3, 6-3) and Abel (fifth singles, 6-2, 6-4) kept their matches relatively close in the loss.

The next day, the Mules traveled to Hartford, Conn. to take on the Trinity Bantams. Vergeyle and Wiener won at first doubles, coming back from two breaks of serve down to win 8-6. The Mules also got a win from Love at sixth singles, 6-2, 6-3. Down 4-2 overall, the Mules ended up on the wrong side of three third sets and fell 7-2. Taking those three matches would have resulted in a 5-4 win for Colby. At first singles, Wiener came back after dropping the first set, but ultimately fell 2-6, 6-4, 6-1. Holmes, at fourth singles, also won her second set after falling in the first, but fell in a super-tiebreaker, 6-2, 4-6, 10-3. Abel (fifth singles) dominated her second set, but fell back to Earth in the third, losing 6-1, 3-6, 6-0.

The Mules open their home season with a match against Wesleyan University at 10 a.m.