Wellesley Goes 2-1 at 2010 Tennis Invitational

Wellesley 7, Brandeis 2 - The Wellesley College tennis team opened the 2010 Wellesley Invitational with a convincing 7-2 victory over #28 Brandeis University on Friday evening. The win lifts the Blue to 11-8 on the season, while Brandeis falls to 6-5.

Wellesley swept doubles, with hard-fought wins in all three positions. At one, Marie Watanabe (Houston, TX) and Jacqueline Shen (Calgary, Alberta, CA) picked up an 8-6 victory over Rachel Rosman and Faith Broderick. At two, Mohona Siddique (Chevy Chase, MD) and Nathalie Herman (San Francisco, CA) teamed up for an 8-5 win over Mackenzie Gallegos and Sarah Richman, while Whitney Reid (Bensalem, PA) and Alice Kate Cummings (Tallahassee, FL) were 8-6 winners over Ariana Sanai and Nina Levine at three.

In singles, Wellesley's Watanabe defeated Broderick at one (6-4, 6-3), Siddique won at three (6-0, 6-4), Meghan Stubblebine (Cumming, GA) was victorious at five (6-0, 6-2) and Reid won her sixth flight match (6-2, 6-0). Brandeis picked up wins at two and five, as Rosman was a 6-0, 6-2 winner, and Gallegos won, 2-6, 7-5, 10-4.

Amherst 8, Wellesley 1 - Against #1 Amherst, Wellesley dropped an 8-1 decision. The loss dips Wellesley to 11-9, while Amherst remains unbeaten at 7-0.

The Blue took the number one doubles spot 8-5, as Watanabe and Shen defeated the nationally-ranked team of Brittany Berckes and Laura Danzig. The rest of the doubles went Amherst's way as Jill Wexler and Natasha Brown defeated Siddique and Sherman, 8-1, and Carlissa King and Caroline Richman posted a 8-0 win over Reid and Cummings.

In singles, it was Amherst in straight sets in each match. Berckes defeated Watanabe, 6-3, 6-1, Danzig defeated Shen, 6-3, 6-3, Carlissa King defeated Siddique, 6-3, 6-2, Wexler defeated Herman 6-0, 6-2, Brown defeated Stubblebine, 6-4, 6-3 and Laken King defeated Reid, 6-3, 6-2.

Wellesley 9, MIT 0 - Welleslely closed out its home Invitational with a smothering 9-0 win over MIT. The Blue improve to 12-9 on the season, while MIT falls to 5-9.

Wellesley jumped out to a 3-0 lead after doubles play, winning three tough matches. At one, Watanabe and Shen posted an 8-4 victory over the 10th-ranked team in the region, Leslie Hansen and Anastasia Vishnevetski. The win marked the third-straight victory for the pair over ranked opponents. At the two spot, Siddique and Stubblebine combined for an 8-6 victoty over Bianca Dumitrascu and Melissa Diskin; while Reid and Cummings were 8-4 winners at three versus Jenny Dohlman and Kerry Weinberg.

In singles, Wellesley posted straight-set victories in the two through five spots. Shen made quick work of Vishnevetski at two, winning 6-1, 6-2, while Siddique was a 6-3, 6-2 winner over Dumitrascu at three. At four, Herman was a 6-0, 6-1 winner over Diskin, while Stubblebine continued her hot hand with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Hillary Jenny at five.

In the six singles spot, Cummings won a hard-fought battle over Jenny Dohlman, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. Wrapping up the match, Watanabe posted a 7-6, 1-6, 6-1 victory over Hanson, who is currently ranked #4 in the region. Watanabe's victory sealed the sweep for the Blue.

Wellesley is off until Sunday, April 11th when they travel to Bowdoin College for a 2:00pm match.