AMHERST, Mass. & NORTHAMPTON, Mass. – Wellesley College tennis won four of its five team matches on the first day of NEWITT at Amherst College and Smith College.
In the A" draw, senior Suzanne Xu (Boyds, Md.) and first-year Kakou Narita (Tokyo, Japan) fell 2-1 to Amherst senior Greta Stechschulte (Leawood, Kan.) and first-year Ruzi Iscen (North York, Ontario) in the round of 16. Narita nabbed a three-setter off Iscen, 1-6, 7-5, 1-0(4). Stechschulte retaliated with a 1-6, 6-3, 1-0(5) win over Buttorff. Amherst took the double set 6-2 to win the match.
Wellesley has three teams competing in the "B" draw. Sophomore Luna Bian (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) and first-year Sophia Liang (Ann Arbor, Mich.) were victorious in the first round, defeating Skidmore senior Coco Prokop (New Orleans, La.), junior Samantha Jacobs (Demarest, N.J.) and first-year Kendall Olivas (El Paso, Texas), 2-1. Bian beat Olivas, 6-4, 6-1, while Prokop struck back, 6-1, 6-7(8), 1-0(5) versus Liang. In the deciding doubles match, the Blue duo grabbed a convincing 6-3 win over Jacobs and Prokop.
Juniors Sophie Buttorff (Tacoma, Wash.) and Nandini Patel (Phoenix, Ariz.) also earned a 2-1 "B" draw victory, taking out Emerson sophomore Teah Login (Huntington, N.Y.) and first-year Elora Hooge (Los Angeles, Calif.). Patel made clinical work of Login, 6-3, 6-2. Hooge returned fire by winning 6-4, 2-6, 1-0(8) over Buttorff. But doubles was all Wellesley, with a 6-0 shutout sealing the win.
Seniors Lily Cade (Minneapolis, Minn.) and Kriti Sarav (Chicago, Ill.) fell 3-0 to Amherst sophomores Maya Muhunthan (Acton, Mass.) and Sameera Talwar (Jakarta, Indonesia). Sarav went the distance with Munhuthan, narrowly falling 6-7(7), 6-4, 1-0(7). Cade was defeated 6-0, 6-3 and the duo lost 7-6(1) in a close doubles set.
In "C" draw action, seniors Veda Madhusudan (Short Hills, N.J.) and Dalia Khera (Houston, Texas) won all three matches over Emerson junior Anisa Pimenova (Kyiv, Ukraine) and first-year Lily Roman (Newport Beach, Calif.). Madhusudan made quick work of Roman, 6-1, 6-2. Khera hung on to defeat Pimenova, 3-6, 6-3, 1-0(4). The Wellesley pair won 6-1 in doubles to sweep the Lions.
Competition continues tomorrow, starting at 9:00 AM.
