SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. - Led by a sweep of doubles and victories in four of six singles flights, the Babson College tennis team posted a 7-2 victory over Mount Holyoke College in the final regular season New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) match for both teams. With the win, the Beavers move to 8-5 and 5-3 in the conference, while the Lyons slip to 6-5 and 4-4 in the NEWMAC.
Babson heads into the NEWMAC Tournament as the fourth-seed and they will face off against Mount Holyoke once again on October 23rd. The Lyons, who are the fifth-seed, will play the Beavers in the Quarterfinals beginning at 3pm.
The Beavers used a dominant effort in doubles action to get the match rolling. The first flight pair of Alex Freeman (Medfield, Mass./Medfield) and Dina Weick (Woodbridge, Conn./Amity) recorded an 8-1 victory over MHC senior captains AnnElizabeth Konkel (Camp Hill, Pa./Harrisburg Academy) and Eman Malik (Karachi, Pakistan/Karachi Grammar School).
In the second flight, Babson's duo of Alexis Ferraro (Coral Gables, Fla./Palmer Trinity) and Tori Paolino (East Orleans, Mass./Nauset Regional) recorded an 8-5 win against MHC's Maya Sayarath (St. Johnsbury, Vt./St. Johnsbury Academy) and Margaux Holloschutz (Franklin Lakes, N.J./Saddle River Day School).
The third flight saw Sarah Whitaker (Dellwood, Minn./St. Paul Academy) and Courtney Fischer (Greenwich, Conn./Convent of the Sacred Heart) earn an 8-1 victory over MHC's Kelsey Brower (Tuckerton, N.J./Pinelands Regional) and Sarah Anischik (Tolland, Conn./Tolland).
Singles action saw the first two flights go to Babson as Freeman defeated Konkel, 6-2, 6-0 in the first, while Whitaker took down Sayarath, 6-2, 6-1 in the second. Holloschutz battled agains Weick in the third flight and came away with a 6-4, 6-4 victory.
Anischik fought a tough battle in the fourth flight against Ferraro, but the Beavers junior came out on the winning edge by a 3-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-7) margin. Malik added another point for the Lyons with a hard-fought 3-6, 7-6 (7-2), 1-0 (10-5) win over Paolino, but Fischer defeated Brower, 6-0, 6-0 to close out the contest in the sixth flight.
Both teams return to competition next weekend when they compete at the NEWITT Tournament, which will be hosted by Mount Holyoke, Amherst and Smith. Action begins on Friday and runs through Sunday.
