SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. -- The Mount Holyoke College tennis team scored two more points than it did in its last meeting a year against Wellesley, but it wasn't enough for a Lyons win as the visiting Blue came away with a 7-2 NEWMAC victory Friday night at the MHC Indoor Tennis Courts.

Wellesley (8-4, 3-1 NEWMAC) won two out of three doubles matches and five out of six singles matches on the night, dropping the host Lyons to 9-6 overall and 3-3 in NEWMAC play.

Sophomore captain Cal Smith (Bridgewater, Mass.) and first-year Rachel Allen (Mary Esther, Fla.) defeated Kriti Sarav and Emilee Pak 8-5 at No. 2 doubles to give Mount Holyoke a brief lead at 1-0. Wellesley's Melinda Alviar and Annissa Mu finished an 8-5 victory at No. 1 singles over junior captain Annika Chai (London, England) and sophomore Kirat Kaur (Chandigarh, India) shortly after. Wellesley took the lead as Lily Cade and Susanne Xu edged sophomores Kate Vavra (Weston, Mass.) and Natali Kostadinovic (Pirot, Serbia) 8-6.

Wellesley prevailed over Mount Holyoke at the first five singles positions, but Kostadinovic came back from a set down to defeat Jennifer Fan 4-6, 6-4, [10-4] to earn a second team point for the Lyons and raise her singles record to 5-2.

Mount Holyoke travels to Newport, R.I., on Saturday to face NEWMAC newcomer Salve Regina at 2pm.

Wellesley 7, Mount Holyoke 2
April 19, 2024 at South Hadley, Mass.

Doubles
1. Melinda Alviar/Annissa Mu (W) def. Annika Chai/Kirat Kaur (MHC) 8-5
2. Cal Smith/Rachel Allen (MHC) def. Kriti Sarav/Emilee Pak (W) 8-5
3. Lily Cade/Susanne Xu (W) def. Natali Kostadinovic/Kate Vavra (MHC) 8-6
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3

Singles
1. Mu (W) def. Chai (MHC) 6-3, 6-0
2. Alviar (W) def. Kaur (MHC) 6-4, 6-3
3. Pak (W) def. Allen (MHC) 6-2, 6-2
4. Sarav (W) def. Smith (MHC) 6-0, 6-3
5. Cade (W) def. Vavra (MHC) 6-1, 6-2
6. Kostadinovic (MHC) def. Jennifer Fan (W) 4-6, 6-4, [10-4]
Order of Finish: 5, 4, 1, 3, 2, 6