On Saturday, the women’s tennis team (16-8, 3-4 Ivy) secured an impressive 4-1 win against Penn (11-12, 2-5 Ivy). The victory sealed their penultimate match of the regular season and marked the Bears’ third Ivy win.
Following Saturday’s success, Bruno faced Princeton (18-3, 6-1 Ivy) on Sunday in the season’s final match. Unfortunately for Bruno, the Bears could not maintain momentum from their win over Penn — ultimately losing to the Tigers 4-1. After the loss, Brown sits at No. 4 in the Ivy League standings.
For the first time since 2023, the Bears also earned a place in the national rankings, peaking at No. 49 in February, according to Head Coach Lucie Schmidhauser. As of April 21, the Bears remained nationally ranked, sitting at No. 64.
Saturday’s competition started off with three doubles matches, with Brown looking toward Anne Yang ’27 and Ali Maguy ’28 to bring them closer to the doubles point.
Yang and Maguy rose to the occasion and threatened to break the Quakers’ serve in the very first game. Inching towards a break point opportunity, Bruno delivered a stunning backhand passing shot at 15-15. Later, at 30-40, Penn split the I-formation but was ultimately caught off guard when Brown smacked the ball crosscourt. While Penn stretched to return the ball, Bruno immediately sent it back with a firm forehand volley winner that secured the break point for the Bears.
As the game progressed, Yang and Maguy kept their momentum, breaking Penn’s serve once more and jumping out to a 4-1 lead in the set.
The pair’s remarkable teamwork continued into the next game. After Maguy maintained an aggressive crosscourt rally with Penn, Yang poached with a backhand crosscourt volley. In the very next point, Maguy’s backhand lob put a stop to Penn’s attempt to create a two-up scenario during the next point.
“I think I played well during Saturday’s game with clarity in my strategy and game,” Yang wrote in an email to The Herald after the match. “Ali and I played our best doubles match together yet, setting each other up with quality balls.”
As Penn attempted to lob Yang at match point, she leaped into the air and smashed the ball crosscourt to close out a 6-2 victory for the Bears.
“I feel like this has been my best season yet, and I’m excited to build upon it for my last time around next year,” Yang wrote.
Francesca Saroli ’29 and Chloe Qin ’29 also triumphed 6-2 in their match, clinching the doubles point for Brown.
In addition to the powerful team performances, Schmidhauser added that there were also “some great performances this spring by individual team members.” She added that two players “who have really stood out” are Yang and Abigail Lee ’29.
Despite only joining the team last fall, Lee already boasts an undefeated 6-0 match record in Ivy League play. Schmidhauser described Lee’s season as “the best performance by a (first-year student) in my nine years as the Brown Women’s tennis head coach.”
On Saturday, Lee’s singles match was a tight, pressure-packed contest. With the overall score at 3-1 in Brown’s favor, Lee’s win would ultimately catapult Brown to victory by earning the team’s match-winning fourth point.
Yet while Lee grabbed the first set 6-0, Penn’s Joleen Saw rallied back during the second and took the set 6-4. Lee’s plays were aggressive — often conquering the net and using quick reflexes to bag points — but Saw’s consistency proved challenging to manage.
The final set soon reached 5-4 to Lee, with Saw serving to stay in the match. Sensing an opportunity for Lee to break and win the afternoon, Lee’s teammates gathered by her court to watch the game unfold.
Lee continued to dominate offensively. After a brief rally, she struck an offensive forehand inside out, making Saw scramble to return the ball. Lee delivered another blistering forehand to finish the rally. After a long 13-shot rally, Saw finally blinked and sent a forehand into the doubles alley, ending the final set at 6-4 to the Bears.
With the contest’s overall outcome already decided, the remaining two matches concluded early.
Reflecting on the match in an email to The Herald, Lee wrote that her thought process was “to stay on court as long as possible,” as her teammate Saroli “was in a close second set tiebreak.”
“I slowed everything down,” she wrote. “From the time I spent in between points to the length of points I played, everything was longer and slower. Changing the pace of the game also changed the momentum of the match.”
The next day, Brown faced Princeton in their last match of the regular season. But even with the buoy of Saroli’s straight-sets singles win, Brown fell 4-1 after losing two doubles and three singles matches.
Despite Sunday’s loss, the weekend ultimately wrapped up a successful 2026 campaign for Bruno. The Bears began the season in a dominant fashion, racing out to a 4-0 record before the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championship. Following their fourth-place finish at the ECAC tournament in February and a loss to Baylor, Brown gained momentum throughout a seven-match win streak during — which included victories against Seton Hall, the University of Rhode Island, Marist and Stony Brook.
In Ivy play, Bruno’s season also saw wins against Cornell and No. 63 Dartmouth before Saturday’s victory over the Quakers.
“As none of the starters were seniors this year, we are returning all of our top players for next year and we are excited to build on our momentum from this year,” Schmidhauser wrote.
“Overall, I’m incredibly proud of the team and motivated from the game against Penn this weekend,” Yang wrote. “It was a strong showing of what we’ve been working hard for since we arrived on campus in the fall and demonstrated many strengths to take into the next season.”
Rahul Sameer is a staff writer from Singapore. He plans to concentrate in Applied Mathematics. In his free time, he plays tennis and Mahjong.
