MIDDLETOWN, CT. – Sidelined during yesterday's match win against Stevens, Lane Durkin '27 roared back in reprisal as she clinched the match point for the Wesleyan women's tennis team in a 5-1 victory over No. 17 University of Redlands on Sunday afternoon, sending the Cardinals to the NCAA Tournament Elite 8 round from Wesleyan's John Wood Memorial Courts.

Ranked fourth in the nation, the 20-0 Cardinals returned to the court with their standard lineup in motion to face the Bulldogs in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament at home. The match-clinching point five went to Durkin at No. 5 singles as she swept Deja Brown 6-0 through set one before Brown forced a fight in set two that saw Durkin come away with two points in a row to settle for a 7-5 set win.

Entering the NCAA Tournament quarterfinal round for the fifth year in a row, the Cardinals will face No. 5 Emory University in St. Louis, MO on Monday, May 20. No strangers to the Georgia natives, the Cardinals and Eagles have faced one another four times prior, most notably in the 2021 National Championship match and just last year in the 2023 quarterfinal round.

Sarah Youngberg '26 and Caitlyn Ferrante '24 opened the afternoon match at No. 1 doubles with a 8-2 win over Maegan Deng and Livi Rockwood. The pair were unrelenting, only allowing the first Bulldogs point when they were up by seven.

Reunited at No. 3 doubles, Durkin and Renna Mohsen-Breen '25 cleared Kiana Brady and Christine O'Brien with another 8-2 victory for the Cardinals. Durkin and Mohsen-Breen dominated until the final point.

The first singles victory went to Mohsen-Breen in the No. 6 lineup spot for the Cardinals. Mohsen-Breen, the Cardinals' leading singles winner this season nearly swept Gabby Rockwood as she came away with a 6-0, 6-1 final score.

Youngberg, the next to finish over on court two, went near point-for-point with Rayna Sugai for the first half of the first set, but pulled away with three unanswered points. Set two went entirely in Youngberg's favor and the sophomore finished with a 6-3, 6-2 tally.