It’s the last weekend before fall break, and instead of holed up in their rooms studying, the Bears took to the field, court and course. The women’s tennis team dominated in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) regional championships. The No. 1 women’s soccer team continued their unbeaten streak, despite letting up two goals. The men’s soccer team won both their games, totaling 6 goals over the weekend. Golf finished fourth at the Tartan Invitational in Farmington, Pennsylvania. 

Women’s Tennis

Junior Caitlin Bui did it all this weekend at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Division III Women’s Central Regional Championship in Kalamazoo, Michigan on Sept. 26-28. Bui won singles as the No. 7 seed, out of 130 competitors. In doubles, the No. 1 seed duo of Bui and senior Eleanor Archer won their second-straight ITA Regional doubles title. This marks the first time in 10 years that the Bears have had both ITA Fall Regional singles and doubles champions.

Along with Bui and Archer, three other Bears reached the singles quarterfinals: graduate student Leila Epstein, junior Ally Lin, and first-year Cassan Li. Since five Bears were in the quarterfinals, it was inevitable that two Bears would have to face each other, which was the case twice for Li. Li took on Archer in the quarterfinals and Bui in the semifinals, with both matches ending in a tiebreaker. Bui advanced to the Finals on Sept. 28, going up against the No. 17 seed from Kenyon College, where she won quite decisively in two sets, 6-0 and 6-1.

The No. 2 seed duo of Lin and Epstein made it to the semifinals, but ultimately lost to a No. 3 seed pairing from University of Chicago. Archer and Bui took on the same UChicago duo in the doubles final, and won the match, once again, in a tiebreaker. 

All five players who made the singles quarterfinals, as well as the two duos that made it to the doubles semifinals, all qualified for the ITA Cup in Rome, Georgia, from Oct. 15-18. In the meantime, the Bears will compete in St. Louis, at Forest Park, in the World Tennis Number Dwight Davis College Open on Oct. 9-11.

Senior Julia Moore dribbles past the last defender (Sykes Carlson | Contributing Photographer)

No. 1 Women’s Soccer

The No. 1 women’s soccer team beat the Centre College Colonels 4-2 on the road on Sept. 25. Although the Bears remain undefeated, with a 9-0 record, this game ends their impressive season shutout streak. Although their illustrious winning streak continues, the Bears must tighten up their defense ahead of University Athletic Association (UAA) competition.

The score does not accurately reflect how dominant WashU was throughout the game. The Bears totaled 32 shots compared to the Colonel’s five. The Colonels were better able to capitalize on shots: of their three shots on goal, two of them went in. Meanwhile, the Bears had 11 shots on goal, but only scored on four of them.

Junior forward Olivia Clemons’ lucky number seems to be seven because she had seven shots on goal and made two of them, bringing her total number of goals for the season to seven.

The Bears will begin UAA conference play on the road against Brandeis University on Saturday, Oct. 3.

Sophomore Nick Hammond charges down the field (Jonah Glass | Staff Photographer)

Men’s Soccer

Men’s soccer beat the Centre College Colonels 3-0 at home and then went back on the road on Sept. 29 and beat the Greenville University Panthers 3-2. These wins bring their record to 6-1-2 ahead of UAA play.

The beginning of the game against Centre was close, but the Bears asserted their dominance with a late first half goal from senior forward Ethan Wirtschafter, finally putting the Bears on the board with a 1-0 lead. With 19 seconds left in the half, the Bears took a corner kick that a Colonels’ defender accidentally headed into the back of the net, bringing the score to 2-0. The Bears final goal of the game was scored by sophomore forward Casper Leary. The Bears were dominant throughout the game taking 20 shots, compared to just two for the Colonels. 

The game against Greenville was much closer. The Panthers ended the first half with a 2-0 lead. Wirtschafter equalized the score for the Bears in the second half, scoring twice in under three minutes. Leary found sophomore midfielder Sebastian Valdes, who fired the ball past the goalie, allowing the Bears to take the lead. This marked Leary’s second assist of the game.

The Bears will hit the road to play Brandeis University on Oct. 3 for their first UAA game of the season.

No. 4 Golf

No. 4 golf competed at the Tartan Invitational, hosted by Carnegie Mellon University on Sept. 28-29. The Bears finished in fourth place out of 12 schools. All of the UAA teams that competed, including Emory University, New York University, and Carnegie Mellon University, placed higher than the Bears.

First-year Eliza Meltzer was the top performer for the Bears, finishing 12th. Senior Amy Beanblossom and sophomore Saxon Skinner were the Bears’ other top competitors, finishing in 20th and 23rd place, respectively.

The Bears will return to the road Oct. 12-13 to compete in the University of California Santa Cruz’s Hollins Cup.