Blue Tennis Earns Seven NEWMAC All-Conference Nods; Yan Rookie of the Year
WELLESLEY, Mass. -- The New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) announced the 2016 Women's Tennis All-Conference team on Tuesday and six student-athletes from conference runner-up Wellesley College earned a combined seven All-Conference honors. Leading the way for the Blue, first year Sarah Yan (Holmdel, N.J.) has been named the 2016 NEWMAC Women's Tennis Rookie of the Year as well as a first team All-Conference honoree in both singles and doubles.
Yan posted a 6-0 mark in NEWMAC singles play to earn All-Conference honors at No. 2 singles. She was joined on the All-Conference first team at No. 2 doubles by partner Andjela Stojkovic (Victoria, British Columbia). The three-time NEWMAC doubles team of the week, Stojkovic and Yan went undefeated in NEWMAC match play in both the regular season and the conference tournament.
Sophomore Justine Huang (Coto de Caza, Calif.) was the third member of the Blue to earn All-Conference first team honors in 2016, posting a 7-0 regular season record in singles play before winning back-to-back matches at No. 3 in the postseason.
The Blue took four more spots on the All-Conference second team, with Stojkovic adding All-Conference singles recognition at No. 4 thanks to a 6-1 singles mark during the regular season. Stojkovic was also named as Wellesley's representative on the NEWMAC Women's Tennis Sportsmanship team.
Wellesley grabbed the No. 5 and No. 6 singles spots on the second team, with those honors going to first years Selina Peng (Taichung, Taiwan) and Korina Hernandez (Tampa, Fla.). Peng went 4-3 in singles play, while Hernandez posted a 5-1 mark. In addition to her singles honor, Peng also earned second team honors at No. 3 Doubles, joing partner Rosanne Hu (Sugar Land, Texas). Peng and Hu won all but one match in NEWMAC regular season play, going 7-1 on the year.
Wellesley College tennis finished the fall season with a 10-2 overall record. The Blue went 7-1 in NEWMAC regular season play, earning the second seed in the conference tournament and advancing to the championship match for the first time since 2013. Wellesley tennis will continue the 2016-17 season in the spring, with the team's first home competition scheduled for Wednesday, April 5, at 4:00 PM versus Tufts.
2016 NEWMAC Women's Tennis All-Conference
Coach of the Year: Carol Matsuzaki, MIT
Athlete of the Year: Yagmur Akgul, Babson
Rookie of the Year: Sarah Yan, Wellesley
First Team:
#1 Singles: Yagmur Akgul, Babson
#2 Singles: Sarah Yan, Wellesley
#3 Singles: Justine Huang, Wellesley
#4 Singles: Lara Rakocevic, MIT
#5 Singles: Sharlene Song, MIT
#6 Singles: Serena Le, MIT
#1 Doubles: Yagmur Akgul/Dina Weick, Babson
#2 Doubles: Andjela Stojkovic/Sarah Yan, Wellesley
#3 Doubles: Rena Liu/Serena Le, MIT
Second Team:
#1 Singles: Dora Tzeng, MIT
#2 Singles: Kelly Zhu, MIT
#3 Singles: Sonya Das, MIT
#4 Singles: Andjela Stojkovic, Wellesley
#5 Singles: Selina Peng, Wellesley
#6 Singles: Korina Hernandez, Wellesley
#1 Doubles: Dora Tzeng/Sonya Das, MIT
#2 Doubles: Kelly Zhu/Lara Rakocevic, MIT
#3 Doubles: Rosanne Hu/Selina Peng, Wellesley