For Immediate Release
October 12, 2008
Wellesley Sports Information
Wellesley Tennis Loses Heartbreaker to Defending Champion Williams
WELLESLEY, Mass. – The Wellesley tennis team dropped a 5-4 decision to 2008 NCAA National Champion Williams College on Sunday afternoon. The Blue picked up their first loss of the season to fall to 6-1, while Williams improved to 4-0.
Wellesley took an early 2-1 advantage after doubles play but the Ephs were able to take four out of six singles matches to squeak out the 5-4 victory.
In doubles, the Williams pair of Cary Gibson and Nikki Reich were 8-2 winners in the first flight over Wellesley's Jen Schwarzkopf (Hinsdale, IL) and Mohona Siddique (Chevy Chase, MD). However, the Blue picked up two points in second and third doubles with Marie Watanabe (Houston, TX) and Grace Cheng (Columbia, MD) combining for an 8-5 win and Shivani Saxena (Milan Italy) and Jacquelina Shen (Calgary, Alberta, CA) recording an 8-4 victory.
Trailing 2-1, Williams picked up wins in second, fourth and fifth singles to take a 4-1 advantage with the first and third flights still competing. The Blue got on the board when Siddique cruised to a 6-4, 6-4 win over Katie Friedman at six singles. At third singles, Wellesley's Saxena took the first set, before falling to Ashley Parsons 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the deciding bout.
In the first flight singles match, Wellesley first-year Watanabe won a marathon match against the #2-ranked player in the nation, Cary Gibson. Watanabe lost the first set 3-6 but bounced back to win the final two sets 6-2, 6-3 to take the match and set the final team score to 5-4.
Wellesley returns to action on Tuesday with a 3:00pm match at NEWMAC-rival Babson College. Williams is off until the spring portion of their season.
Wellesley College Tennis
October 12, 2008
Williams 5, Wellesley 4
Doubles
1. Cary Gibson/Nikki Reich (Wi) def. Jen Schwarzkopf/Mohona Siddique (We), 8-2
2.
Marie Watanabe/Grace Cheng (We) def. Kristin Alotta/Genny Loomis (Wi), 8-5
3. Shivani Saxena/Jacqueline Shen (We) def. Ashley Parsons/Annie Hancock (Wi), 8-4
*4. Meghan Stubblebine/Katie Ching (We) def. Caroline Capute/Katie Friedman (Wi), 8-5
Singles
1. Marie Watanabe (We) def. Cary Gibson (Wi), 3-6, 6-2, 6-3
2. Nikki Reich (Wi) def. Jen Schwarzkopf (We), 6-0, 6-2
3. Ashley Parsons (Wi) def. Shivani Saxena (We), 3-6, 6-2, 6-3
4. Kristin Alotta (Wi) def. Jacqueline Shen (We), 6-2, 6-1
5. Annie Hancock (Wi) def. Meghan Stubblebine (We), 6-2, 6-0
6. Mohona Siddique (We) def. Katie Friedman (Wi), 6-4, 6-4
*7. Genny Loomis (Wi) def. Nathalie Herman (We), 6-1, 6-0
*8. Caroline Capute (Wi) def. Grace Cheng (We), 8-2
*9. Caroline Capute (Wi) def. Dara Azuma (We), 8-2
*Exhibition