Wellesley Tennis Tops Nationally-Ranked Bates College
WELLESLEY, Mass. -- The Wellesley College tennis team cruised to a 7-2 victory over nationally-ranked Bates College, on day two of the Nor'Easter Bowl at Wellesley.
The seventh-seeded Blue improve to 10-7 overall, and advance to the consolation final. The Blue will battle fifth-seeded Brandeis for fifth place. Bates, seeded sixth, dips to 6-3 on the year. The Bobcats will now play eighth-seeded Babson for seventh place.
Wellesley nabbed a 2-1 advantage after doubles play. Wellesley's number one team of junior Sojung Lee and first-year Carina Chen did not drop a game, cruising to an 8-0 victory over Bates' Elena Mandzhukova and Elizabeth Erbafina. The Blue also got a win at two, where first-years Andjela Stojkovic and Lina Ye teamed up for a hard-fought 9-7 win over the Bobcat's Lucy Brennan and Alexandra Hakusui.
Bates got on the board in the third doubles spot. Kate Rosenthal and Kristen Doerer grabbed the first Bobcats point, defeating Wellesley first-year Samantha Stone and senior Kendall Tada, 8-4.
In singles, Bates quickly tied the match at 2-2, as Erbafina topped Stojkovic, 6-0, 6-1, at number four. That proved to be the last Bates point, as Wellesley grabbed wins in the other five singles matches to seal the 7-2 win.
Lee and Chen each took care of their opponents in straight sets, as Lee topped Mandzhukova, 6-3, 6-3, at one, and Chen defeated Brennan, 6-3, 6-3, at two. The wins at the top of the line-up set the score to 4-2 Wellesley.
The Blue's Ye then clinched the match-deciding point with 6-4, 6-2 win at four, topping Doerer. Wellesley also nabbed wins at five and six, where Tada topped Rosenthal, 6-3, 6-1, and first-year Dasha Kostikina outlasted Olivia Voccola, 6-4, 6-7, 10-8.
Wellesley returns to the courts at 10:00am and will celebrate senior day for Kendall Tada before the match.
Other Nor'Easter Bowl Action
#1 Amherst def. #4 Skidmore, 9-0 - Box Score - Top seeded and defending champion, Amherst continued to cruise, defeated fourth-ranked Skidmore, 9-0. The Jeffs allowed just five games against them in doubles and won each singles match in straight sets to earn a spot in the championship match for the third straight year.
#3 MIT def. #2 Trinity, 7-2 - Box Score - MIT earned a spot in the title match, with a 7-2 victory over Trinity. The Engineers grabbed a 3-0 lead after doubles and then picked up wins at 1, 3, 4, and 6, singles to earn the victory.
#5 Brandeis def. #8 Babson, 7-2 - Box Score - Brandeis had a narrow 2-1 advantage after doubles against Babson, but won five out of the six singles matches to cruise to the 7-2 win.