Tennis Falls Short at Wheaton in NEWMAC First Round

NORTON, Mass.- The fourth-seeded Wheaton College women's tennis team notched a 5-1 victory over fifth seed Mount Holyoke College during Wednesday's opening round of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament on the Clark Tennis Courts.

The host Lyons advance to their sixth consecutive semifinal round, with this year's weekend portion of the tournament taking place at Wheaton. The Blue and White hosts top seed Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on Saturday at noon, while the other semifinal features second seed Wellesley College and third seed Babson College at 3:00 p.m. Sunday's final is slated for 1:00 p.m.

Wheaton improved to 8-3 on the fall while raising its postseason mark against Mount Holyoke to 5-2. Mount Holyoke finished its fall slate at 5-5.

The hosts secured doubles wins in the first two positions, with junior Lyndsay Cooke (Bakersfield, Calif./Bakersfield Christian) and sophomore Alexandra Marlowe (Mesa, Ariz./Mountain View) picking up an 8-2 victory in the top slot.

Juniors Morgan Bell (Gloucester, Mass./Pingree School) and Sarah Crom (Bremen, Germany/International School of Bremen) turned in an 8-5 win at second doubles.

Mount Holyoke senior My-Linh Nguyen (Potomac, Md./Richard Montgomery) and first year Margaux Holloschutz (Franklin Lakes, N.J./Saddle River Day School) put the visitors on the board following their 8-4 victory at number three.

In singles action, Cooke surrendered just one game to senior Nahrhee Han (Albertson, N.Y./Herricks) in the first position to give Wheaton a 3-1 lead.

Bell's 6-2, 6-3 win over sophomore Sarah Anischik (Tolland, Conn./Tolland) in the third spot provided the hosts with a 4-1 edge, and Marlowe's 6-3, 6-1 triumph at two against junior AnnElizabeth Konkel (Camp Hill, Pa./Harrisburg Academy) was the clinching match.

Crom, freshman Caroline DiNicola-Fawley (Brattleboro, Vt./Brattleboro Union) and senior Jesse Boggis (Hopkinton, Mass./Hopkinton) each won their first sets and held second-set leads in the fourth through sixth positions, respectively, when the match was decided.