WELLESLEY, Mass. – No. 21 Wellesley College tennis started the 2026 portion of the season with a 4-3 triumph against No. 28 RPI on Saturday inside the Dorothy Towne Fieldhouse. The Blue (2-0) avenged a 4-3 loss to the Engineers (2-1) from last season.

Wellesley started the day by sweeping doubles to gain confidence.

Junior Kriti Sarav (Chicago, Ill.) and first-year Luna Bian (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) got the day off to a hot start for the Blue at No. 2 doubles. The duo didn't drop a single game in a 6-0 shutout of RPI sophomores Juliette Ceas (Albany, N.Y.) and Victoria Sarabosing (Irvine, Calif.).

Wellesley locked up the doubles point at No. 3 doubles. Sophomores Sofia Corte-Real (Stamford, Conn.) and Nandini Patel (Phoenix, Ariz.) capitalized on a break in the very first game to collect a 6-4 decision over sophomore Gauri Muliyil (Perry Hall, Md.) and first-year Kayla Wheeler (Port Orange, Fla.).

Senior Emilee Pak (Chicago, Ill.) and junior Suzanne Xu (Boyds, Md.) won No. 1 doubles to complete the sweep. The pair held off a late comeback from the No. 14 ranked doubles team of Nicole Ridenour (Minneapolis, Minn.) and sophomore Anushka Jaiswal (Fremont, Calif.) to win 7-5.

Muliyil knotted the match score up at 1-1 by defeating Patel, 6-4, 6-3 at the No. 3 singles line. 

Ridenour gave the visiting Engineers its first lead at the top singles line, recording a 6-3, 6-3 final score over Xu.

Corte-Real righted the ship for the Blue, staying one step ahead of Wheeler at No. 2 singles in a 6-3, 6-4 showing.

Sophomore Sophie Buttorff (Tacoma, Wash.) cruised to a 6-0, 6-1 win over Jaiswal at No. 5. The win pushed the Blue within a point of victory at 3-2.

Bian secured the match for Wellesley at No. 4 singles by defeating Ceas, 6-4, 6-3.

Sarabosing made the final score 4-3 by giving RPI a 6-4, 6-2 point against Sarav in the No. 6 spot.

Next up, Wellesley remains home to welcome Trinity College (Conn.) on Saturday, February 28. RPI travels to NYU on Saturday, February 21.