Wellesley Tennis Hosts the 2013 Nor'easter Bowl

WELLESLEY, Mass. -- The Wellesley College tennis team will welcome eight nationally-ranked teams to town this weekend, as part of the 2013 Nor'easter Bowl. The Blue are co-hosting the tournament with nearby Brandeis University. 

Action begins on Friday in the bracket-style event and each team will play three total matches. The eight teams were seeded based on the latest ITA national rankings, led by #1 seed Amherst College, who is also ranked #1 nationally in Division III. 

Skidmore is the second seed with a #20-national ranking, followed by third-seeded MIT (#21) and fourth-seeded Trinity (#24). The final five seeds feature the 26th through 29th teams in the country, fifth-seeded Brandeis, sixth-seeded Wellesley, seventh-seeded Mary Washington and eighth-seeded Bates. 

Friday's matches will be played at both Wellesley and Brandeis. At Wellesley, the Blue will square off against MIT and Skidmore will battle Mary Washington. At Brandeis, Amherst will play Bates, and Trinity will face Brandeis. All Friday matches will be played at 2:00pm unless they are moved indoors. 

As part of the Nor'easter Bowl event, the Blue will host a senior day celebration for Elena Bowen on Saturday before the 2:00pm Wellesley match. Free pizza and soda will be available to anyone with a Wellesley ID. 

Last year, Amherst went 3-0 at the tournament to claim the Nor'easter Bowl title. In the championship match, the Lord Jeffs topped Tufts, 8-1. Wellesley placed fourth overall last year, ending the event with a 1-2 mark.