SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. (Sept. 17, 2011) – The Mount Holyoke College tennis team fell 9-0 to NEWMAC foe Wellesley College in its 2011-12 opener this afternoon. Marie Watanbe and Sojung Lee prevailed at both singles and doubles for the Blue, who have won all three of their matches this year. The Lyons fell to 1-3 with their second loss in a row.

Wellesley swept through doubles play to set the tone early on. Watanbe and Lee cruised to an 8-0 win at the top of the lineup, while Kendall Tada and Erica Choo prevailed 8-3 in their number three tilt. In the number two matchup, Emily Bary and Diana Granger narrowly defeated Mount Holyoke's Maya Sayarath and Sarah Anischik by a score of 8-5.

From there, it was all Wellesley. The Blue won all six singles matches in straight sets to seal things. From top to bottom, their lineup featured Watanbe, Melissa Clark, Lee, Joyce Chen, Morgan Johnstonbaugh and Lauren Wilbur.

Mount Holyoke's top performance came from Eman Malik, who fell 6-2, 6-4 to Chen at the fourth slot.

The Lyons (1-3, 0-2 NEWMAC) will return to action on Wednesday, when they host Wesleyan University for a non-conference contest beginning at 5:00 p.m. Wellesley (3-0, 2-0 NEWMAC) is scheduled to hit the courts again next Saturday at home against NEWMAC foe Clark University at 1:00 p.m.

Photos by Leila Quinn '12