Wellesley Tennis Earns Big 7-2 NEWMAC Win Over Babson

WELLESLEY, Mass. – Wellesley College tennis earned a big 7-2 New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) win over visiting Babson College on Saturday at Dorothy Towne Fieldhouse.

The Blue are now 7-1 overall and in hold of second place in the NEWMAC standings with a 5-1 record in conference play. The Beavers drop to 7-2 on the season and 4-2 in NEWMAC play, falling to the Blue for the first time since the 2014-15 season. 

Wellesley took a 2-1 lead in doubles play, earning victories in the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles matches. Wellesley opened with an 8-6 win at No. 2 doubles, where senior Andjela Stojkovic (Victoria, British Columbia) and first year Sarah Yan (Holmdel, N.J.) defeated Babson sophomores Chloe Brandt (Denver, Colo.) and Eleni Gianelos (West Chester, Pa.).

The Beavers countered with a win in the top doubles match, as junior Yagmur Akgul (Istanbul, Turkey) and senior Dina Weick (Woodbridge, Conn.) downed Blue senior Carina Chen (Hong Kong) and sophomore Justine Huang (Coto de Caza, Calif.) by an 8-4 margin. However, the Blue would ultimately end doubles play with the advantage thanks to a 9-7 win at No. 3 by sophomore Rosanne Hu (Sugar Land, Texas) and first year Selina Peng (Taichung, Taiwan) over Babson junior Claire Foster (Orange, Conn.) and first year Tatiana Ramirez (Miami, Fla.).

Yan picked up her second win of the day to open singles, extending the Wellesley lead in the match to 3-1 with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Ramirez at No. 2. Huang then put the Blue on the brink of clinching the match with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Weick at No. 3, but Akgul responded for the Beavers by taking a 6-4, 6-3 win over Chen at No. 1.

With the Blue leading 4-2 in the match, first year Korina Hernandez (Tampa, Fla.) locked-up the Wellesley victory with a commanding 6-0, 6-1 win over Babson junior Kylie Kam (Honolulu, Hawai'i) at No. 6. The Blue then went on to win both the No. 4 and No. 5 singles matches via third set superbreakers to seal the 7-2 final. Stojkovic defeated Brandt at No. 4, 6-4, 2-6, 10-7, while Peng topped Foster at No. 5, 6-3, 0-6, 10-6. 

Both teams return to action with NEWMAC matches at 4:00 PM on Tuesday, October 4. Wellesley will host Emerson and Babson will travel to Wheaton.