WELLESLEY, Mass. -- The Wellesley College tennis team, ranked #19 in the latest ITA poll, topped #20 Brandeis, 6-3, on Saturday afternoon in Wellesley.
The Blue took a 2-1 lead after doubles and then won four out of the six singles matches to seal their 16th victory of the season. Wellesley improves to 16-5 with the win, while Brandeis dips to 13-3 overall.
In doubles, Wellesley won in the second and third spots, with Brandeis picking up a win at one in a tiebreaker. At two, Diana Granger and Erica Choo were 8-5 winners over Roberta Bergstein and Allyson Bernstein, while at three, Melissa Clark and Kendall Tada topped Simone Vandroff and Dylan Schlesinger, 8-2. At one, Brandeis' Carley Cooke and Faith Broderick came out on top of a hard fought 9-7 match over Wellesley's Marie Watanabe and Sojung Lee, 9-7 to earn the Judges' first point.
In singles, Wellesley stretched the lead to 3-1 as Lee topped Alexa Katz, 6-2, 6-0 at five, but Brandeis pulled it to 3-2 with a 6-2, 6-0 Broderick win over Choo, at two. Wellesley inched one step closer to victory when Granger defeated Vandroff 7-6(6), 6-0 at four and then sealed the match with Clark's come-from-behind 0-6, 7-5, 7-5, win over Bernstein at three. Clark was behind 5-2 in the second set before rallying for the victory.
Meanwhile, Brandeis picked up its third point at six where Bergstein topped Tada, 1-6, 6-4, 6-0, while Wellesley's Watanabe gritted out a 5-7, 6-2, 7-6(9) victory over Cooke in first singles. Watanabe fought off three match points in the win.
Wellesley is back in action tomorrow at Bowdoin, closing the regular season with a 1:00pm match. Brandeis next plays on Tuesday, hosting Trinity at 3:00pm.
Wellesley 6, Brandeis 3
Wellesley, MA - April 21, 2012
Doubles
1. Cooke/Broderick (BR) def. Watanabe/Lee (WEL), 9-7
2. Granger/Choo (WEL) def. Bernstein/Bergstein (BR), 8-5
3. Clark/Tada (WEL) def. Vandroff/Schlesinger (BR), 8-2
Singles
1. Watanabe (WEL) def. Cooke (BR), 5-7, 6-2, 7-6(9)
2. Broderick (BR) def. Choo (WEL), 6-2, 6-0
3. Clark (WEL) def. Bernstein (BR), 0-6, 7-5, 7-5
4. Granger (WEL) def. Vandroff (BR), 7-6(6), 6-0
5. Lee (WEL) def. Katz (BR), 6-2, 6-0
6. Bergstein (BR) def. Tada (WEL), 1-6, 6-4, 6-0
