Blue Tennis Downs Smith in NEWMAC Opener, 8-1

WELLESLEY, Mass. – Wellesley College tennis opened New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play on Saturday, defeating rival Smith College, 8-1.

The Blue improve to 2-0 (1-0 NEWMAC) early in the 2016-17 season, while Smith drops to 1-1 (0-1 NEWMAC). 

Wellesley swept through doubles to take a 3-0 advantage in the match. Senior Carina Chen (Hong Kong) and sophomore Justine Huang (Coto de Caza, Calif.) picked up their first win of the season, defeating sophomores Noa Dubin (Southampton, N.Y.) and Joanna Kim (Chicago, Ill.), 8-1.  

Sophomore Rosanne Hu (Sugar Land, Texas) and first year Selina Peng (Taichung, Taiwan) also earned an 8-1 win at No. 3, defeating the Smith senior duo of Alexandra Steck (Albany, N.Y.) and Kelli Cheung (Plainfield, N.J.). Wellesley senior Andjela Stojkovic (Victoria, British Columbia) and first year Sarah Yan (Holmdel, N.J.) cruised past senior Margaret Anne Smith (Spring Lake, N.J.) and first year Toula Sierros (Northampton, Mass.), 8-2, at No. 2.

Huang, Peng and Hu all went on to earn victories in singles. Huang eased past Dubin, 6-1, 6-0, at No. 1, while Peng grabbed her first collegiate win with a 6-2, 6-0, victory over Kim at No. 2. At No. 4, Hu topped Cheung, 6-1, 6-1, to pick up her first singles win of the year. 

Sophomore Tristan Lorich (New York, N.Y) defeated sophomore Janan Fugel (Franklin Lakes, N.J.), 6-0, 6-1, at No. 6, before first year Korina Hernandez (Tampa, Fla.) closed out the match with her first collegiate win, defeating Smith, 6-3, 6-3, at No. 3 singles.

Smith earned their lone victory in the No. 5 singles match, as Sierros won a third set super breaker, 10-5, after splitting the opening two sets with Blue sophomore Sojin Ki (Seoul, South Korea), 6-2, 3-6.

Wellesley returns to action tomorrow, Sunday, September 4, with a 12:00 PM non-conference match at The College of New Jersey. Smith is off until next Saturday, September 10, when they will travel to Babson for NEWMAC play at 12:00 PM.