MIDDLEBURY, Conn. – Sophomore Julie Merlin continued to heat up for Post University Women's Tennis, winning her fourth consecutive Singles match of the season on Sunday against the conference's defending champion Wilmington University, but the Eagles could not get in the win column for the first time this year, falling 6-1 to the Wildcats, and to 0-5 overall. 

THE BASICS

Post University 1, Wilmington University 6

Post University (0-5, 0-2 CACC)

Wilmington University (3-0, 3-0 CACC)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Wildcats would sweep through the Doubles with relative ease, winning both the #1 and #3 Doubles by 6-1 final scores. Merlin and sophomore Laura Kotala would be unable to keep pace with sophomores Molly Carlberg and Ming-Fu Chen in the #1 Doubles, while it was senior Gloria Bacaro and sophomore Siana MacDonald winning against senior Gioia Turco and freshman Savannah Croft in that #3 Doubles matchup, Freshman Elena Camacho and sophomore Liza Sylka completed the Wilmington sweep with a 6-2 win over junior Ana Vasilis and freshman Vitalina Sokoliuk, 6-2, in the #2 Doubles.

Stealing the only Singles match of the day for Post would be Merlin in an intense #2 Singles against Camacho, in which she edged her out in set one, 7-5, before a 6-3 set two win for the two-set sweep. However, the Wildcats would take the remaining five courts as MacDonald defeated Vasilis in the #1 Singles and Carlberg beat Sokoliuk in the #3 Singles by identical two-set sweeps of 6-2 and 6-1. Reversing that winning score would be Sylka in the #4 Singles against Kotala, in which she won 6-1 and 6-2.

In the #5 Singles, it was sophomore Ines Oliveira coming out on top, 6-0 and 6-4 against Croft, while Barcaro closed the day with a 6-0 and 6-1 win over Turco in the #6 Singles to give Wilmington the 6-1 match win. 

BY THE NUMBERS

• Julie Merlin has now won four consecutive Singles matches, dating back to the September 13th match against Chestnut Hill College, and is now 4-1 in Singles this year
• Ana Vasilis saw her two-game winning streak in Doubles as well as her three-game winning streak in Singles matches snapped against Wilmington University
• Dating back to last season, Post University has lost eight straight matches and 13 of its last 14 matches 
• Post University is now 2-13 in the all-time series against Wilmington University, dropping their last nine head-to-head matches since the 2021-22 season

 
WHO'S NEXT
Before heading to ITA's next weekend, Post University will have a conference matchup against Dominican (N.Y.) on the road this Wednesday at 3:00 PM. The Eagles swept the Lady Chargers last year in their home-and-home series, 5-2 and 4-3, holding a 7-1 record in the all-time series.