No. 19 New York University Inches Past Wellesley Tennis, 5-4

NEW YORK, N.Y. – No. 19 New York University narrowly defeated Wellesley College 5-4 on Saturday at Stadium Tennis Center. The Violets (1-0) took two of three doubles matches before splitting singles 3-3 with the Blue (1-1 Overall).

Senior Molly Heber (Mill Valley, Calif.) and junior Jimena Menendez (Miami, Fla.) gave New York U. its first point at No. 2 doubles with an 8-3 win over Wellesley sophomore Emilee Pak (Chicago, Ill.) and first year Suzanne Xu (Boyds, Md.).

The Blue fought hard at No. 1 doubles. Seniors Annissa Mu (Saratoga, Calif.) and Melinda Alviar (Indianapolis, Ind.) faced the No. 12 doubles team in Division III of grad student Isabella Hartman (New York, N.Y.) and senior Dakota Fordham (New York, N.Y.). The Violets eked out an 8-7 win in a tiebreaker. 

Wellesley got on the scoreboard at No. 3 doubles. Blue first years Veda Madhusudan (Short Hills, N.J.) and Kriti Sarav (Chicago, Ill.) took down junior Hannah Chang (Houston, Texas) and first year Tess Heber (Mill Valley, Calif.) 8-7 in a tiebreak.

Alviar tied the score at 2-2 with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Hartman at No. 3 singles. New York U. bounced back with wins at No. 1 and 2 singles. Menendez defeated Mu 6-2, 7-6 at No. 1 while Fordham claimed a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Xu. First year Ksenia Goel (San Diego, Calif.) locked in the win for the Violets with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Madhusudan at No. 5 singles.

Sarav gave Wellesley a tally on the scoreboard at No. 6 singles against junior Glenda Boeker (Mountain View, Calif.). After falling 6-2 in the opening set, Sarav rallied to win the second and third set by scores of 6-2 and 6-4.

Pak closed the match with a three-set 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 comeback against T. Heber to make the final for the Violets.

Wellesley returns home on Saturday, March 16 to take on Bates at 1:00 PM and the Violets host RIT at 1:00 PM on Saturday, March 2.