Blue Tennis Opens Seven Sisters Play With Wins Over Mount Holyoke & Bryn Mawr
NORTHAMPTON, Mass. – Wellesley College tennis opened the 2018 Seven Sisters Championship with back-to-back victories, defeating rivals Mount Holyoke College, 4-1, and Bryn Mawr College, 5-0, at the Smith College Indoor Track and Tennis Facility. Wellesley is now 2-0 in the tournament and to open the 2018 season.
Wellesley 4, Mount Holyoke 1
Wellesley put their opening match away in singles play, sweeping all three games to take the 4-1 win. Blue first year Lizzy Kong (Mason, Ohio) opened singles with a 6-4, 6-0 win over junior Madison Rosen (Portland, Ore.) at No. 3. Junior Justine Huang (Coto de Caza, Calif.) then eased past Mount Holyoke's Ching-Ching Huang (Lukang Township, Taiwan) at No. 1, winning 6-0, 6-3, to put Wellesley up 2-0. Sophomore Selina Peng (Taichung, Taiwan) closed out the Wellesley win with a 6-1, 6-3 win at No. 2 singles, defeating MHC senior Ishita Tibrewal (Kolkata, India).
Blue first years Michelle Buyer (Wilmette, Ill.) and Lily Chu (Princeton, N.J.) were narrowly defeated, 9-8, by MHC sophomore Catherine Peabody (San Francisco, Calif.) and first year Anya Gerasimova (Salem, Ore.) in the first of two eight-point pro set doubles match-ups. However, the Blue rallied at No. 2 doubles behind a lopsided 8-1 win by sophomore Korina Hernandez (Tampa, Fla.) and first year Abigail Schleichkorn (Pacific Palisades, Calif.) over senior Katherine Schumacher (Baldwinsville, N.Y.) and junior Clara Wang (Madison, Conn.) to close out the 4-1 score line.
Wellesley 5, Bryn Mawr 0
Peng and the Blue continued to roll in the second match, with the Wellesley sophomore putting her squad up 1-0 with a 6-2, 6-2 win over first year Hannah Sherman (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) at No. 1 singles. Kong followed with her first singles win of the tournament, defeating Bryn Mawr senior Lizzie Siegle (Hillsborough, Calif.), 6-4, 6-1, at No. 2. Blue junior Sojin Ki (Irvine, Calif.) completed the singles sweep of the Owls with a sweep of her own, winning No. 3 singles 6-0, 6-0 over first year Christina Xue (Eddison, N.J.).
In doubles, Buyer and Chu bounced back from their 9-8 setback in the opener to down senior Mariam Haider (Hanover Park, Ill.) and sophomore Caroline Horvatits (Buffalo, N.Y.), 8-1, at No. 1. Hernandez and Schleichkorn then capped the 5-0 win with an 8-0 sweep of senior Abbygail Brewster (Wichita, Kan.) and sophomore Francesca Caramazza (Brookline, Mass.) at No. 2
The Blue will battle the host Pioneers at 10:00 AM and Vassar College at 2:30 PM during day two of the Seven Sisters Championship on Sunday, February 25th.
2018 Seven Sisters Tennis Championship
Saturday, February 24, 2018
Bryn Mawr defeats Smith 3-2
Wellesley defeats Mount Holyoke 4-1
Vassar defeats Smith 5-0
Wellesley defeats Bryn Mawr 5-0
Vassar defeats Mount Holyoke 5-0
Sunday, February 25, 2018
8:30 a.m. Bryn Mawr vs Mount Holyoke
10:00 a.m. Wellesley vs Smith
11:30 a.m. Vassar vs Bryn Mawr
1:00 p.m. Smith vs Mount Holyoke
2:30 p.m. Wellesley vs Vassar