Box Score DUDLEY, Mass. (October 14, 2026) – The Western New England women's tennis team picked up a massive triumph on Wednesday evening on the road, defeating the Bison of Nichols College by a final score of 4-3, winning singles matches at Nos. 3, 4, 5 and 6 to come away with a huge victory to improve WNE's position in the Conference of New England standings.
Records:
- Western New England: 5-6, 4-4 CNE
- Nichols College: 3-6-1, 3-4 CNE
How it Happened:
The matches opened in doubles action and took 20 minutes for the dominant duo of
Kayla Ledoux and
Yasmine Giacalone to come away with a 6-1 victory in the third doubles position over NC's Sarah Maher and Julia Beaulieu. WNE's top duo of
Lauren Bilodeau and
Wynter Worth fell short, 6-4, leaving the doubles point to the second position. In that second position, the Golden Bears had match point but saw Nichols' Erin Helly and Cassandra Rice fire back in a big way, forcing a tiebreak in the set and coming away with a 7-6 victory, taking the doubles point from the Golden Bears to lead 1-0 early on.
Western New England had the opening point of singles play when
Lauren Bilodeau needed just 32 minutes to take the fifth position singles match over Kaitlyn Tingle, winning without dropping a point, 6-0, 6-0. Nichols bounced back in the top position where
Emma Miller fell to Pamela Gonzalez Vallardi, 6-0, 6-2, as Nichols took a 2-1 lead in the match. The Bison extended the lead with a win in the second singles position, as
Wynter Worth fell to Cassandra Rice, 6-3, 6-2. The Bison needed just one more victory to close out the match, but the pesky Golden Bears had other answers.
Elise Catlett took a 6-2, 6-2 victory in the sixth singles position, bringing the match back within one, as Nichols held the slim 3-2 lead.
The match came down to the third and fourth singles positions, where
Malina Dinis and
Kayla Ledoux fought for every point for Western New England. Dinis dropped the opening set in the third singles position match in a tiebreak, 6-7, but rallied in the second set to find her game and pick up a 6-2 victory. Dinis went on to win the third set by the same score, 6-2, to tie the match overall at three all, leaving the final point down to the fourth singles position. Ledoux won the opening set in a tiebreak, 7-6, but saw her opponent, Gianna Musumeci, win the second set, also on a tiebreak, forcing a third and final set in the match. There, Ledoux played to her strengths and powered past Musumeci without dropping a point, coming up with a 6-0 win, giving the Golden Bears a 4-3 victory in the match.
The win marks the first time since September 20, 2008, in which the Golden Bears defeated the Bison. It is the second time since 2007 in which the Blue and Gold have come up with a victory away from home against Nichols.
Up Next on the Schedule:
- Western New England hosts Suffolk University on Wednesday, October 21 at 3:30 PM at Forest Park Tennis Courts with big playoff implications on the line as the team heads into its final two CNE matches of the season.
