Wellesley Tennis Wins 2011 Seven Sisters Championship

Seven Sisters Tournament Website

WELLESLEY, Mass. – Host Wellesley College took home the team title at the 2011 Seven Sisters Tennis Championship. The Blue defeated runner-up, Vassar College, 4-1, in the tournaments deciding and final match.

Wellesley amassed 19 total points to earn its 12^th overall title, and it's fifth in the last six years. Vassar finished with 16 points, while Mount Holyoke took third with 10 points. Rounding out the team scoring, Smith finished fourth with four points and Bryn Mawr got on the board with a point to finish at number five.

In the marathon final match, Wellesley won the first set in all five of the flights. Marie Watanabe put Wellesley up 1-0 with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Vassar's Jennifer Beckerman. The number one doubles team of Jacqueline Shen and Diana Granger then pushed the score to 2-0 Wellesley, as they defeated Nicole Block and Alyssa Roush, 7-6(7-1), 6-2.

Just as it looked like Wellesley would wrap up the title easily, Vassar battled back to win the second set in each of the remaining matches, forcing third sets to decide the winner. However, Wellesley's Kendall Tada clinched the team victory for the Blue, with a 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 victory over Jennifer Ruther at three singles.

Vassar got on the board with a win at number two doubles, where Natalie Santiago and Lindsay Kantor earned a come-from-behind 5-7, 7-5, 6-2, victory over Nathalie Herman and Raji Nagalla. Wellesley's Erica Choo then set the final score to 4-1 Wellesley with an exciting 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(7-5) victory over Jennifer Ruther at third singles.

Flight winners in the Wellesley vs. Vassar match earned All-Seven Sisters honors for finishing the tournament undefeated.

In the other matches today, Mount Holyoke opened day two with a 5-0 victory over Smith. In one singles, Nahree Han and Rachel Canfora battled it out for three sets in the longest match of the tournament, before Han finally picked up the 7-6(8-6), 6-7(5-7), 7-6(7-0) victory. At two, Elise Marifian was a 6-4, 6-3 winner over Eunice Zhao, and at three, Maya Sayarath defeated Allie Ryan, 6-0, 6-1.

In doubles, Mount Holyoke's Natalie Hsiang and Sarah Moore defeated Maggie Steiner and Allyson Hawkins 6-2, 6-2 at one, while AnnElizabeth Konkel and Heather Richardson defeated Nawal Mays and Meghan Smith, 6-2, 6-4.

In the second match of the day, Wellesley swept Bryn Mawr, 5-0. Watanabe defeated Eliza Perocchi 6-0, 6-1 at one, Choo defeated Jenny Vogel, 6-2, 6-1 at two, and Tada blanked Zoe Odenwalder, 6-0, 6-0 at three. In doubles, Shen and Granger defeated Caitlin Finn and Marianne Leung, 6-0, 6-0 at one, while Herman and Nagalla won 6-0, 6-1 over Vivian Chen and Elizabeth Olecki at two.

Next up was a Vassar sweep of Mount Holyoke. At one, Beckerman defeated Han, 6-0, 6-1, at two Backer won 6-4, 6-4 over Marifian, and at three, Ruther was a 6-1, 6-2 winner over Sayarath. In doubles, Block and Roush defeated Hsiang and Moore, 6-0, 6-1 at one, while Santiago and Kantor defeated Konkel and Richardson, 6-1, 6-1 at two.

In the final match before the Wellesley/Vassar contest, Smith picked up a 4-1 victory over Bryn Mawr. In singles, Smith's Canfora defeated Perocchi 7-5, 6-3 at one, while Smith's Ryan defeated Odenwalder, 7-5, 6-2, at three. Bryn Mawr got on the board with a win from Vogel, 6-4, 6-3, over Zhao. In doubles, Smith took both, as Steiner and Hawkins defeated Finn and Leung, 6-1, 7-5, at one, and Mays and Smith defeated Chen and Olecket, 6-2, 6-1 at two.

The Seven Sisters Tennis Championship has been contested since 1983. Wellesley leads the pack with 12 overall titles, while Vassar is second with nine titles. Smith is the only other school to win the team title, with eight total victories.

2011 Seven Sisters Tennis Championship
Hosted by Wellesley College
April 9-10, 2011

RESULTS

Saturday
Vassar 5, Bryn Mawr 0
Wellesley 5, Smith 0
Mount Holyoke 5, Bryn Mawr 0
Vassar 5, Smith 0
Wellesley 5, Mount Holyoke 0

Sunday
Mount Holyoke 5, Smith 0
Wellesley 5, Bryn Mawr 0
Vassar 5, Mount Holyoke 0
Smith 4, Bryn Mawr 1
Wellesley 4, Vassar 1

FINAL STANDINGS
Wellesley  19
Vassar  16
Mount Holyoke  10
Smith  4
Bryn Mawr  1

Flight Champions
#1 Doubles – Jacqueline Shen/Diana Granger, Wellesley
#2 Doubles – Natalie Santiago/Lindsay Kantor, Vassar
#1 Singles – Marie Watanabe, Wellesley
#2 Singles – Erica Choo, Wellesley
#3 Singles – Kendall Tada, Wellesley