SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. – Powered by a doubles sweep and wins in four of six singles, the Wellesley College tennis team posted a 7-2 victory over Mount Holyoke College in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action on Sunday. With the win, the Blue – ranked 31st in the nation – move to 4-1 and 2-1 in conference play. The Lyons shoulder their first loss of the season and are now 4-1 overall and 2-1 in the NEWMAC.
The Blue came out firing to open the match as the first doubles pair of senior Carina Chen (Hong Kong, Hong Kong S.A.R./Hong Kong International) and sophomore Justine Huang (Coto de Caza, Calif./Tesoro) posted an 8-6 win over Lyons sophomore Ayame Yazawa (Tokyo, Japan/St. Johnsbury Academy (Vt.) and first year Ching-Ching Huang (Lukang Township, Taiwan/Taipei Municipal First Girls' HS).
Second flight action saw Wellesley senior Andjela Stojkovic (Victoria, B.C./Brentwood College) and first year Sarah Yan (Holmdel, N.J./Holmdel) notch an 8-5 victory over MHC senior Alexa Colas (Teaneck, N.J./The Dwight-Englewood School) and first year Catherine Peabody (San Francisco, Calif./Lick-Wilmerding HS).
The tightest battle of the day came in third flight doubles as Blue first year Selina Peng (Taichung, Taiwan/Morrison Academy Taichung) and sophomore Rosanne Hu (Sugar Land, Texas/William P. Clements) edged past Lyons senior Amy Chen (Hilo, Hawaii/Hilo) and junior Ishita Tibrewal (Kolkata, India/Modern High School for Girls), 9-7.
In singles action, Huang recorded the fourth point for the Blue with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Tibrewal at three. Chen got the Lyons on the board at six with a 6-2, 7-5 win against Wellesley sophomore Tristan Lorich (New York, N.Y./The Ross School), but the visitors countered with a win by Stojkavic over Peabody at four, 6-0, 6-2.
First year Korina Hernandez (Tampa, Fla./H.B. Plant) continued the Wellesley momentum at five with a 6-0, 7-5 win over Lyons' sophomore Clara Wang (Madison, Conn./Daniel Hand), but Mount Holyoke answered as Yazawa recorded a tough 5-7, 6-1, 1-0 (10-7) win against Chen in the first flight.
Yan grabbed the seventh and final point for Wellesley as she bested Huang at two by a tight 2-6, 6-4, 1-0 (11-9) margin.
Mount Holyoke returns to action next weekend when it travels to Cambridge for a 12pm conference-showdown against nationally-ranked MIT. Wellesley is also in action on Saturday when it travels to NEWMAC-foe Clark at 4pm.
