October 26, 2008

Wellesley Captures NEWMAC Women's Tennis Championship

SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. (Oct. 26, 2008) - The top seeded Wellesley College women's tennis team defeated the second seeded Massachusetts Institute of Technology 5-3 in the 2008 New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championship this afternoon at Mount Holyoke College. As a result of their fifth title in a row, the Blue secured a spot in the 2009 NCAA Division III National Tournament, which will be played in the spring. Wellesley cruised to a 5-0 triumph over fourth seeded Babson College in the Semifinal Round earlier today. MIT moved on to the title match by upending third seeded Wheaton College 5-1.

NEWMAC CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 Wellesley College def. #2 MIT, 5-3

Top seeded Wellesley and second seeded MIT met in the NEWMAC Championship for the fifth year in a row. Once again, the Blue came out on top, winning by a score of 5-3. The match was tightly contested from the outset. Wellesley took control of things early, as it won two of the three doubles matches. The Blue then sealed the title by securing wins in three of the six singles contests. Sophomore Shivani Saxena (Milan, Italy/American School of Milan) won at both singles and doubles for the champions.

Wellesley's second doubles pairing of first years Marie Watanabe (Houston, Texas/Greenwich (Conn.)) and Grace Cheng (Columbia, Md./River Hill) got things going with an 8-3 triumph over junior Anisa McCree (Acton, Mass./Acton-Boxborough) and sophomore Melissa Diskin (Newport News, Va./Warwick). The Blue's second doubles point came from Saxena and classmate Jacqueline Shen (Calgary, Alberta, Canada/Queen Elizabeth), who downed seniors Yi Wang (Woodinville, Wash./Inglemoor) and Karina Pikhart (Granada Hills, Calif./Cleveland) 8-5 at the number three position.

MIT got on the board by way of an 8-4 win by its first doubles pairing of junior Leslie Hansen (Fairfax, Va./Thomas Jefferson) and first year Anastasia Vishneveysky (Orange, Conn./Hopkins School). They defeated junior Mohona Siddique (Chevy Chase, Md./Sidwell Friends School) and senior Jennifer Schwarzkopf (Hinsdale, Ill./Hinsdale Central).

With the outcome of the match in the balance, Wellesley earned three of the six singles point to hold off a late charge by the Engineers. Siddique picked up a 6-0, 6-2 victory over first year Alex Hall (Hemet, Calif./Hemet) at the number one slot to put Wellesley in front 3-1. A 6-2, 6-2 win by Saxena against Diskin in the number three contest extended the Blue's cushion to 4-1, but Yang upended Shen 6-1, 6-3 at the fourth spot to close the gap to 4-2. In the number one matchup, Hansen downed Watanabe 6-4, 6-1, making the score 4-3 in favor of Wellesley.

The Blue then sealed things, when Schwarzkopf finished off Vishneveysky in their number two tilt. Schwarzkopf was forced to second set tiebreaker before eventually prevailing by a score of 6-4, 7-6 (7-2).

Wellesley wrapped up its fall slate with an overall record of 9-2. The Blue also won the regular season title after posting a 7-0 mark versus league foes. MIT went 8-3 overall and 6-1 in Conference play.

Singles Results
1. Leslie Hansen (MIT) def. Marie Wattanabe (WEL) 6-4, 6-1
2. Jen Schwarzkopf (WEL) def. A. Vishnevetsky (MIT) 6-4, 7-6 (7-2)
3. Shivani Saxena (WEL) def. Melissa Diskin (MIT) 6-2, 6-2
4. Yi Wang (MIT) def. Jacqueline Shen (WEL) 6-1, 6-3
5. Meghan Stubblebine (WEL) vs. Anisa McCree (MIT) 6-2, 5-7, 3-1, unfinished
6. Mohona Siddique (WEL) def. Alex Hall (MIT) 6-0, 6-2

Doubles Results
1. Leslie Hansen/A. Vishnevetsky (MIT) def. Jen Schwarzkopf/Mohona Siddique (WEL) 8-4
2. Marie Wattanabe/Grace Cheng (WEL) def. Anisa McCree/Melissa Diskin (MIT) 8-3
3. Shivani Saxena/Jacqueline Shen (WEL) def. Karina Pikhart/Yi Wang (MIT) 8-5