SPRINGFIELD, Mass.-- Wellesley College tennis swept past Springfield College, 9-0, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action on Saturday afternoon at the Appleton Courts. Wellesley improves to 11-6 overall and 4-1 the NEWMAC. Springfield drops to 6-6 and 1-4 in conference play.
Junior Justine Huang (Coto de Caza, Calif.) and sophomore Selina Peng (Taichung, Taiwan) took in the first win of the day, 8-1, for Wellesley at No. 1 over sophomore Cara Freadman (Richmond, Mass.) and junior Emily Etter (Guilford, Conn.)to give Wellesley a 1-0 lead to start out doubles play.
Sophomore Korina Hernandez (Tampa, Fla.) and first year Abigail Schleichkorn (Pacific Palisades, Calif.) earned the next point for Wellesley at No. 2 against Springfield's sophomore Addie Kendall (Lakeville, Mass.) and junior Melissa Parrish (Framingham, Mass.) with a score of 8-4. First years Lily Chu (Princeton, N.J.) and Michelle Buyer (Wilmette, Ill.) closed out doubles competition with an 8-4 victory over senior Rachel Litchfield (Northbridge, Mass.) and sophomore Rachel Ahlmeyer (Morris Plains, N.J.) at No. 3 to give Wellesley a 3-0 lead heading into singles play.
Hernandez grabbed the first victory for the Blue in the singles competition when she defeated Litchfield in her two sets, 6-0, 6-0. Peng then gave Wellesley a 5-0 lead, taking a win over Etter at No. 2, 6-2, 6-1. Buyer then took her sets to 6-1, 6-4 over Ahlmeyer at No. 6 to make the score 6-0 Blue. Junior Sojin Ki (Irvine, Calif.) opened with a 6-1 in the first set against Kendall before battling to a 7-5 win in the second set to take the win at No. 4.
Huang won her first set, 6-3, at No. 1, but needed a second set tiebreak to down Freadman. In the end, Huang would take the second set, 7-6, thanks to a 7-3 win in the breaker, to extend Wellesley's lead to 8-0. Chu and Parrish fought through the first set before the Wellesley first year took the advantage thanks to 7-4 win in a tiebreak. Chu finished the day with a 6-2 win in her second set at No. 5 to give Wellesley the 9-0 match victory.
Both teams will play again on Tuesday, April 17 at 4:00 PM. Springfield will travel to Emerson and Wellesley will play at MIT.
