Wellesley Tennis Cruises Past Defending NEWMAC Champion Wheaton
WELLESLEY, Mass. – The Wellesley College tennis team snapped Wheaton's 17-match NEWMAC win streak, with a 9-0 drubbing of the Lyons, outdoors at the Keohane Sports Center courts on Tuesday evening.
Wheaton, the two-time defending NEWMAC Tournament Champions, had been carrying a 17th-match conference win streak dating back to the 2009 season.
The win lifts the Blue to 4-0 in conference play, 5-1 overall, while the Lyons drop the first match of their season, moving to 5-1 overall, 3-1 in NEWMAC play.
Wellesley took a 3-0 lead after doubles play, and then swept all six singles matches to complete the 9-0 team victory.
In doubles, Wellesley's Marie Watanabe and Sojung Lee paired up for an 8-4 victory over the Wheaton duo of Lyndsay Cooke and Alexandra Marlowe at one, while Diana Granger and Emily Bary defeated Sarah Crom and Allessandra DiOrio, 8-3 at two. The Blue's Melissa Clark and Joyce Chen earned the easiest doubles win, taking down Morgan Bell and Jesse Boggis, 8-1, at three.
In singles, the closest match of the afternoon came in the first flight, where Watanabe gritted out a 5-7, 6-3, 10-7 victory over Cooke, despite dropping the first set. At two, Clark defeated Marlowe, 6-2, 6-1, while at three Granger was a 6-1, 6-1 winner over DiOrio. Lee was a 7-5, 6-2 winner at four, Kendall Tada defeated Crom, 6-1, 6-4 at five and Emily Bary wrapped things up with a 6-2, 7-5 victory over Boggis at six.
Both teams head off to Lewiston, Maine, this weekend, competing at the USTA/ITA Regional Championships. The event, hosted by Bates College, runs Friday through Sunday.