The New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference

NORTON, Mass. - Wellesley College won the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament women's tennis championship match against Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for the third straight season, picking up a 5-0 victory on Sunday in Wheaton College's Beard Field House.

The top-seeded Blue, ranked 23rd nationally by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), improved to 10-1 and received an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia on May 15-20, 2007. Number two MIT was making its fifth straight NEWMAC Tournament title match appearance and dropped to 8-3.

Wellesley nabbed a 3-0 lead after taking each doubles match, two of which were high-scoring affairs. Juniors Jenna Mezin (Haiku, HI/Seabury Hall) and Hali Walther (Navarre, FL/Eastlake) wrapped up the quickest victory among the Blue's victorious trio, notching an 8-1 win at the top spot.

At number two, sophomore Jennifer Schwarzkopf (Hinsdale, IL/Hinsdale Central) and freshman Meghan Stubblebine (Bridgeville, PA/Bishop Canevin) held off MIT junior Mariah Hoover (Orlando, FL/Trinity Preparatory) and sophomore Yi Wang (Woodinville, WA/Inglemoor), 8-6. The third-position doubles match finished last, as sophomore Jane Booth-Tobin (Minneapolis, MN/Minneapolis South) and freshman Mohona Siddique (Chevy Chase, MD/Sidwell Friends School) picked up an 8-5 win against Engineer freshmen Anisa McCree (Acton, MA/Acton-Boxboro Regional) and Kerry Weinberg (New York, NY/Stuyvesant).

In singles play, the Blue needed to complete only two matches in clinching the team victory. Walther picked up a 6-1, 6-1 triumph in the third spot, while sophomore Alex Lucas (Leawood, KS/Notre Dame de Sion) recorded a 6-2, 6-2 decision at number four.

Wellesley Captures 2006 NEWMAC Women's Tennis Championship