NORTHAMPTON, Mass. – Wellesley College tennis got their New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) season started in the right way on Saturday, sweeping host Smith College, 9-0. 

The Blue are now 4-4 overall (1-0 NEWMAC) following their second win of the season over the Pioneers. The Blue also defeated Smith in the Seven Sisters Championship last month. Smith drops to 1-7 (0-1 NEWMAC) on the year.

Sophomore Korina Hernandez (Tampa, Fla.) and first years Michelle Buyer (Wilmette, Ill.) opened the day for the Blue with an 8-2 win over seniors Samantha Peikes (West Hartford, Conn.) and Tess Ostoyich (Bethesda, Md.) at No. 3 doubles. An 8-0 sweep from first years Lizzy Kong (Mason, Ohio) and Lily Chu (Princeton, N.J.) at No. 2 and an 8-4 victory at No. 1 by Junior Justine Huang (Coto de Caza, Calif.) and sophomore Selina Peng (Taichung, Taiwan) helped the Blue take a commanding 3-0 lead into singles play.

Huang continued to roll in singles play, defeating Smith first year Allison Ahern (Minneapolis, Minn.), 6-0, 6-0, at No. 1 to put the Blue up 4-0. Junior Sojin Ki (Irvine, Calif.) then clinched the match for the Blue with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over sophomore Joanna Kim (Chicago, Ill.) at No. 3.

The Blue would win all of the remaining singles matches, including 6-0, 6-0 sweeps in the No. 4, No. 5, and No. 6 matches from Hernandez, Buyer, and first year Abigail Schleichkorn (Pacific Palisades, Calif.). The most competitive match of the day came at No. 2 singles where Peng held off Peikes to earn a 6-3, 6-4 victory that put the Blue up 7-0 at the time it finished.

Wellesley returns to action on Friday, March 23, in the first match of its California road trip. The Blue will take on Cal Lutheran at 2:00 PM Eastern. Smith will travel to Springfield for their next match on March 27 at 4:00 PM.