Wellesley tennis smashes Springfield 8-1

Blue Tennis made their last match of the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) regular season a good one. On Saturday, Oct. 21, they won all of the doubles matches and the top five singles spots to beat Springfield 8-1 and secure the second seed for the NEWMAC tournament, which they won last fall.

A collegiate tennis match consists of three doubles matches, and six singles matches. The team with the most individual match wins is the overall winner. An 8-1 victory isn’t just a win, but a powerful statement.

The match took place under the harsh lights of the Keohane Sports Center (KSC), where Wellesley superfans donned blue and braved the long walk to come out and watch the Blue win all of their doubles matches against the Pride. “We have been working really hard on the doubles court,” Coach Brian Kuscher said. The hard work has certainly paid off for the Blue. 

Springfield was only able to win two games in the three doubles matches, at first doubles. Diana Granger ’14 and Sojung Lee ’15 beat Springfield’s Sam Carney and Siena Green 8-2. At two, Erica Choo ’14 and Joyce Chen ’15 won 8-0, and at three, Suzanne Barth ’16 and Veronica Lin ’15 did the same. Wellesley was off to a good start, up 3-0 after an hour’s play. These quick victories seemed to drain Springfield’s morale.

The Blue carried this momentum into singles play. At one, Granger beat Carney in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3. It was a hard-fought battle for both sides. In the next four positions, Wellesley continued to win easily. Lee won 6-0, 6-0, Barth won 6-0, 6-1, Abby Esrock ’16 won 6-0, 6-0 and Chen won 6-1,6-2. At six, Springfield’s Vanessa Senecal registered the lone win of the afternoon for the Pride, beating Elena Bowen ’13 7-5, 6-2.

The win was decisive, and even new fans of the Blue could tell. Cathy Bai ’15 had come out to see a sporting match for the first time. “I don’t really know anything about tennis, but Wellesley is doing great,” she said. 

Saturday also marked captain and senior Elena Bowen’s last conference match. “She is one of our hardest working players... I was happy to see her play, but sad to realize it was the last time I will get to see her play in NEWMACs,” Kuscher said. 

Wellesley plays in the conference tournament this weekend, with their semifinal match against Babson set to take place on Saturday, Oct. 27. 

Kuscher is looking forward to it. “If we can get just a little better every day, give 100 percent, it won’t matter if we win or lose. Our goal is to be as good as we can be, and let what happens happen. I just believe if we do those things, we will win,” he said.