Blue Tennis Finds Success on Opening Day of NEWITT

NORTHAMPTON & HOLYOKE, Mass. - Wellesley College tennis saw two of their three teams win their opening match at the New England Women's Intercollegiate Tennis Tournament (NEWITT) on Friday at Smith and Mount Holyoke.

In the "B" draw junior Melinda Alviar (Indianapolis, Ind.) teamed up with first year Emilee Pak (Chicago, Ill.) for the Blue. The pair took on sophomores Ripley Uyeda (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.) and Lejla Guster (Wethersfield, Conn.) of Endicott. Alviar gave the Blue their first point with a narrow 6-2, 4-6, 10-5 win over Uyeda. Guster evened the score for Endicott with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Pak. The Blue duo won a convincing 8-2 doubles match to secure a 2-1 win and advance further in the "B" bracket.

Junior Cristiana DeAgazio (Winchester, Mass.) and first year Isabella DeAgazio (Winchester, Mass.) lost in their "B" draw match. The DeAgazio sisters lost 8-4 in doubles against Springfield's team of senior Gabby Heaney-Secord (Westwood, Mass.) and sophomore Ramida Manataweewat (Bangkok, Thailand). Cristiana lost 6-2, 6-2 to Heaney-Secord in singles while Isabella was defeated 6-3, 6-3 by Manataweewat. The pair will move to the backdraw for consolation play tomorrow.

In the "C" draw Wellesley was represented by senior Celeste Tran (Los Angeles, Calif.) and junior Jennifer Fan (Vancouver, British Columbia). The pair earned a 3-0 win over a trio of players from Endicott; junior Isabela Miani (Southington, Conn.), sophomore Yolanda Mendonca (Albany, N.Y.), and first year Ashley Klauck (Magnolia, Texas). Tran and Fan won their doubles match 8-1 before Fan won singles 6-3, 6-1 and Tran won singles 6-4, 6-1 to move forward in the "C" bracket.

All three Wellesley teams will compete tomorrow at either Smith or Mount Holyoke, beginning at 9 AM.