Blue Tennis Completes Nor’easter Bowl Sweep with 5-1 Win Over RPI
WELLESLEY, Mass. – Wellesley College tennis capped off a perfect Nor'easter Bowl weekend with a 5-1 victory over visiting Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on Sunday afternoon at Dorothy Towne Fieldhouse.
The Blue went 3-0 on the weekend, improving to 12-5 overall. Rensselaer finished the weekend with a record of 1-2 to move to 4-7 on the season. In other action on Sunday, co-host Brandeis defeated St. Lawrence, 5-1, and Christopher Newport topped Babson, also 5-1. Complete results from this weekend are listed below.
Wellesley secured the match by decision thanks to victories at #1 and #3 Doubles and in the top three singles matches. Junior Carina Chen (Hong Kong) and first year Justine Huang (Coto de Caza, Calif.) combined to help the Blue earn three points in the match. Chen and Huang opened with an 8-2 victory over RPI senior Emily Laurilliard (Niskayuna, N.Y.) and first year Maria Salmon (Tampa, Fla.) in doubles. Chen then defeated Laurilliard at #1 Singles, 6-0, 6-1, while Huang won by retirement at #2 Singles.
Sophomore Emily Olson (La Jolla, Calif.) clinched the match for the Blue at #3 Singles, defeating first year Andrea Valencia (Lake Mary, Fla.), 6-1, 6-1. Olson and first year Rosanne Hu (Troy, Texas) secured the other Wellesley point in doubles play, defeating first years Mailani Neal (Kailua-Kona, Hawaii) and Nisha Rajamohan (Waterford, Conn.), 8-1.
Valencia and junior Pooja Ganesh (Fremont, Calif.) earned the only RPI point in the match with an 8-4 win over Wellesley juniors Dasha Kostikina (Acton, Mass.) and Samantha Stone (Greenwich, Conn.) at #2 Doubles.
Wellesley tennis will travel to Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. next weekend for the annual Seven Sisters tennis championship. The Blue will play Mount Holyoke and Smith on Friday, April 9, and Bryn Mawr and the host Brewers on Saturday, April 10. The Blue are seeking their first Seven Sisters title since 2014.
5th Annual Nor'easter Bowl (2016) Results:
TEAM RECORDS:
Wellesley: 3-0
Amherst: 2-0
Brandeis: 2-1
Babson: 1-2
Chris. Newport: 1-2
Rensselaer: 1-2
St. Lawrence: 1-2
Stonehill: 0-2
FRI. APRIL 1:
Rensselaer 6, vs. Stonehill 3
Brandeis 7, Chris. Newport 2
Wellesley 5, St. Lawrence 4
Amherst 9, Babson 0
SAT. APRIL 2:
Wellesley 5, Chris. Newport 3
Amherst 8, Brandeis 1
St. Lawrence 5, Stonehill 0
Babson 7, Rensselaer 2
SUN. APRIL 3:
Brandeis 5, St. Lawrence 1
Chris. Newport 5, Babson 1
Wellesley 5, Rensselaer 1