WELLESLEY, Mass. -- The 2015-16 Wellesley College Athletics season gets underway today, as Blue Tennis is set to host Assumption College for the first of six season-opening contests for Wellesley this weekend.

Blue Volleyball will follow with a match on Friday evening at 7:00 PM against local rival Brandeis College before Wellesley golf, cross country, field hockey and soccer all kick-off the season on the weekend.

On Saturday, golf will tee off a Labor Day Weekend Tripleheader at 10:00 AM, hosting Holy Cross at Nehoiden Golf Course. At the Outdoor Fields Complex, No. 10 Wellesley field hockey will host Husson beginning at 12:00 PM before soccer caps the day with a 2:30 PM contest vs. Simmons. Cross country will also open the season Saturday, when they travel to Bristol, R.I. for the annual Roger Williams Invitational

For more, check out the team previews below and be sure to follow the Blue on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram this season!

Tennis

Season Opens Today, Thursday, September 3rd at 5:00 PM vs. Assumption (Video)

Having lost only ITA Regional Most Improved (Senior) Player of the Year Sojung Lee to graduation last spring, the Blue return a young team, adding four talented first year players to a lineup that includes no seniors this season. Expect junior Carina Chen (Hong Kong) and sophomore Emily Olson (La Jolla, Calif.) to continue to contribute for Wellesley, as Chen posted an 11-6 singles mark and a 5-1 mark in conference action to earn second team All-Conference honors last season. Olson went 12-3 in singles play, winning nine of her last ten matches to close out the 2014-15 season.

Volleyball

Season Opens Friday, September 4th at 7:00 PM at Brandeis (Video)

Wellesley will welcome ten newcomers in 2015 after finishing 17-11 and advancing to the NEWMAC semifinals in 2014. In all, the Blue will feature just three upper class players in senior Courtney Lang (Seattle, Wash.) and juniors Brooke Fieldman (Greenwood Village, Colo.) and setter Maddie Koh (Seattle, Wash.). The trio is once again expected to contribute, as Fieldman’s 205 kills and 218 digs in 2014 leads all returning players, with Lang not far behind after putting down 188 kills of her own last season. Koh is the only returning player to have played in all 101 sets for the Blue in 2014, recording 923 assists while averaging 9.14 assists/set.

Golf

Season Opens Saturday, September 5th at 10:00 AM vs. Holy Cross at Nehoiden G.C. 

Senior Lei Wei (Brentwood, Calif.) is the lone upperclass player in a Blue lineup that will take on a new look this season. Four first year golfers will join Wei and sophomores Kathleena Inchoco (Fairfield, Conn.) and Maya Muldowney (Waunakee, Wis.) when the Blue open the season this Saturday with the first of two appearance this fall at Nehoiden Golf Course. Wei was Wellesley top-finisher at multiple events last season, including Wellesley's annual Ann S. Batchelder Invitational (t-24th). Meanwhile, Muldowney will look to build off a team-leading performance (t-12th) at last spring's Liberty League Championships. 

Cross Country

Season Opens Saturday, September 5th at 11:00 AM at the Roger Williams Invitational

Last season’s NEWMAC runner-up, Wellesley returned to the NCAA Cross Country Championships for the third time in school history in 2014, and first time since 1986, taking 22nd place overall. The Blue return five runners that competed at the NCAA Championships, including three scoring runners in senior Priyanka Fouda (Wellesley, Mass.) and juniors Mary Keenan (Boerne, Texas) and Alice Zhou (Sunnyvale, Calif.). Expect Fouda, the Blue’s top-finisher at the 2014 NEWMAC Championships and NCAA Regional Championships to lead the pack, followed closely by Keenan, a top-20 finisher at last year’s NEWMAC Championships.

Field Hockey

Season Opens Saturday, September 5th at 12:00 PM vs. Husson (Live Stats | Video)

Two-time NEWMAC defending champion and preseason favorite Wellesley is coming off a record-breaking season that saw the Blue win a program-record 19 games and advance to the NCAA quarterfinals for the second consecutive season. The Blue will look to make it three in-a-row behind an offense that returns four of its top-five goal scorers, including a pair of All-Conference performers in senior third team All-American Anissa Sridhar (Idlerton,Ontario) and senior Hannah Flesch (Rockville, Md.). Flesch was the team’s second leading scorer with 18 goals in 2014. In goal, junior Lucy Hurlock (Needham, Mass.) returns to lead a defense that posted a conference leading 0.38 goals against average in NEWMAC contests last season.

Soccer

Season Opens Saturday, September 5th at 2:30 PM vs. Simmons (Live Stats | Video)

Wellesley will be looking for a return to the postseason after missing out on the NEWMAC tournament for just the second time in the past eight seasons. The Blue return their top seven scorers from last year, including sophomore Melise Knowles (Diablo, Calif.) and junior Abby Hess (Claremont, Calif.). Knowles tallied a team-leading five goals and three assists during her rookie season, while Hess added three goals and a pair of assists. Senior co-captains Abby Aldridge (Coronado, Calif.) and Rianna Aylward (Bend, Ore.), a second-team All-Conference selection last season, will lead an experienced rosters that also includes senior goalkeeper Kat Goldsmith, an All-Conference selection in 2013.