The women's tennis team didn't give itself much of a send-off in its last home match Friday afternoon, falling to Wellesley 5-4 and dropping to 11-5 on the season.
The Blue immediately took charge in the match, sweeping the doubles matches to take an early 3-0 lead. Despite a hard-fought battle, senior tri-captains Jen Luten and Kylyn Deary fell to Wellesley juniors Jenna Mezin and Hali Walther 9-7 in the No. 1 slot.
Wellesley tandems of junior Trish Devine and sophomore Jennifer Schwarzkopf and sophomore Jane Booth-Tobin and freshman Meghan Stubblebine took the No. 2 and No. 3 spots with scores of 8-5, defeating the duos of freshman Meghan McCooey and junior Andrea Cenko and freshman Erica Miller and sophomore Mari Homma, respectively.
The Jumbos bounced back during singles play, however. Luten and Mezin squared off again, and this time Luten emerged victorious, winning 6-1, 6-4. Cenko, Deary and Homma followed suit, each winning in two sets.
In the No. 3 spot, Cenko defeated Walther, 7-6, 6-4, while Deary similarly beat Stubblebine 6-3, 7-5. Wellesley freshman Mohona Siddique was no match for Homma, who went 6-0, 6-2.
But the Blue's Devine continued her dominance, quickly taking care of senior Silvia Schmid, winning 6-1 and 6-3 sets to bring the score to 4-4.
The deciding point came down to the No. 2 match featuring McCooey and Schwarzkopf. McCooey took the first set 3-6, but Schwarzkopf fought back, winning the next two sets 6-3 to break the tie and secure the win for the Blue.
With the NESCAC tournament set to kick off Friday, the team will have a week to rest and prepare for the season's culmination, which will be hosted by Amherst College Friday through Sunday.
-by Carly Helfand
