Wellesley Tennis Splits Singles with #18 Tufts, But Blue Fall 6-3

MEDFORD, Mass. -- The #18 Tufts University used a strong doubles start to pick up a win over visiting Wellesley, 6-3, on Tuesday afternoon. The match was played indoors because of weather conditions. The loss dips the Blue to 9-6 overall, while Tufts improves to 4-5.

The Jumbos opened with a 3-0 lead after doubles, with the teams splitting the singles matches for the 6-3 results. 

In doubles, Wellesley junior Sojung Lee and first-year Carina Chen played the tightest match, narrowly falling in the number one spot. Tufts senior Shelci Bowman and first-year Jacqueline Baum came out on top in a tiebreaker, recording a 9-8 (8-6) victory. 

At two doubles, Tufts' Alexa Meltzer and Samantha Gann earned an 8-4 win over Wellesley first-years Andjela Stojkovic and Lina Ye. While at three, the Jumbos Conner Calabro and Chelsea Hayashi completed the sweep for Tufts with an 8-3 win over Blue senior Kendall Tada and first-year Samantha Stone.

In singles, Wellesley had a line-up change, forcing the Blue to move their fourth, fifth and sixth players up a flight. Tufts then grabbed the deciding match points early, as Calabro topped Ye at three, 6-2, 6-3, and at four, Bowman topped Tada, 6-1, 6-1. 

Wellesley, however, grabbed three of the final four matches on court to set the final to 6-3. Lee won at one singes, topping Gann, 6-4, 3-6, 10-5, while at two, Chen was a 6-4, 1-6, 10-8, winner over Meltzer. Wellesley grabbed its final point at five, where first-year Dasha Kostikina was a 6-3, 3-6, 10-5 winner over Baum. Rounding out singles play, Tufts Rebecca Kimmel topped the Blue's Stone, 6-0, 6-1, at six. 

Up next, Wellesley will host the Nor'Easter Bowl, an eight-team tournament this weekend. The Blue open with a match-up against #14 Trinity College on Friday at 3:00pm. Tufts also returns to action on Friday, hosting Colby for a 4:00 pm NESCAC match.