Selina Peng and the Blue are now 2-0 in NEWMAC play (Miranda Yang).
Selina Peng and the Blue are now 2-0 in NEWMAC play (Miranda Yang).

Wellesley Tennis Tops Smith in Home Opener, 9-0

WELLESLEY, Mass. – Wellesley College tennis moved to 2-0 in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action with a 9-0 victory over visiting Smith College on Saturday at Dorothy Towne Fieldhouse.

The Blue, who also defeated Smith earlier this season at the Seven Sisters Championship, improve to 8-3 overall (2-0 NEWMAC). Smith is winless on the season (0-7, 0-2).

Senior Rosanne Hu (Sugar Land, Texas) and first year Michelle Shen (Dallas, Texas) got the doubles sweep rolling with an 8-0 victory over senior Rachel LaFlamme (Chicopee, Mass.) and first year Gabby Mingolelli (Chicago, Ill.) at No. 3. The Blue would eventually advance to singles play with a 3-0 lead after earning victories in the remaining doubles matches.

Senior Justine Huang (Coto de Caza, Calif.) and first year Michaela Markwart (Hanover, Mass.) followed Hu and Shen, improving their No. 1 doubles mark to 3-0 on the season with an 8-1 win over Smith sophomore Allison Ahern (Minneapolis, Minn.) and senior Joanna Kim (Chicago, Ill.). At No. 2 doubles, junior Selina Peng (Taichung, Taiwan) and first year Libby Chang (San Marino, Calif.) defeated first year Elsa Hillis (Georgetown, Texas) and junior Kara Van Allen (Kalamazoo, Mich.), 8-2.

First year Cinji Lee (Seoul, South Korea) defeated Van Allen, 6-1, 6-0, at No. 3 singles to give the Blue a 4-0 advantage. Junior Korina Hernandez (Tampa, Fla.) clinched the match with a win at No. 1, defeating Ahern, 6-0, 6-1. Hernandez is now 5-1 in singles this season with victories in multiple spots in the Blue lineup. Sophomore Lily Chu (Princeton, N.J.) followed with a 6-2, 6-0, win over Kim at No. 2 singles that made the score 6-0 in favor of the Blue.

Wellesley completed the sweep with victories at No. 5, 6, and 4 singles. Senior Sojin Ki (Irvine, Calif.) defeated Hillis, 6-0, 6-0, at No. 5, while sophomore Abigail Schleichkorn (Pacific Palisades, Calif.) earned a 6-0, 6-0, win over first year Betsy Hillier (Cohasset, Mass.) at No. 6, and senior Tristan Lorich (New York, N.Y.) picked-up the final Wellesley victory, 6-0, 6-3, versus sophomore Yena Li (Shenzhen, China).

Both teams will continue NEWMAC play on Tuesday, April 2 at 4:00 PM. Wellesley will travel to Clark and Smith will play at Babson.