Blue Tennis Clinches NEWMAC Regular-Season Crown

BABSON PARK, Mass. – The Wellesley College women's tennis team clinched the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) regular season title with a 9-0 victory over host Babson College at the Farwell Courts on Tuesday.

With the win, the Blue improved to 8-1 overall and a perfect 7-0 in league play while locking up the top seed in the upcoming NEWMAC Tournament. Meanwhile, Babson (9-2 overall, 5-2 NEWMAC) will be seeded third in the NEWMAC Tournament, which the Beavers will host on October 22 and 23.

Babson led each of the doubles matches at one point, but Wellesley rallied to take all three for an early 3-0 advantage. Senior captain Marie Watanabe and first-year Sojung Lee battled back for a close 9-7 win at number one, sophomores Diana Granger and Kendall Tada earned another hard-fought win at two, 8-6, and first-years Joyce Chen and Melissa Clark completed the doubles sweep with an 8-4 triumph at three.

The Blue continued to roll in singles play, winning all six matches, including five in straight sets. Watanabe prevailed at one, 6-4, 6-3, sophomore Erica Choo won at two, 6-1, 6-3, Lee snapped a five-match win streak by Babson first-year Courtney Fischer at five, 6-1, 6-3, and Tada earned a 6-4, 6-3 win at six. The two closest singles contests came at three, where Clark used a first-set tie-breaker to secure a 7-6 (3), 6-0 win over Beavers' senior captain Rebecca Stone, and four, where Granger outdueled Beavers' first-year Minte Tamoshunas in a third-set superbreaker, 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-7).