NORTON, Mass. -- The Wheaton College (Mass.) women's tennis team defeated visiting Colby-Sawyer College, 6-3, this afternoon at the Clark Tennis Courts on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass. The Lyons improve to 3-7 on the season, while the Chargers fall to 15-6.
Wheaton swept doubles play, including a pair of matches that came right down to the wire, to take a 3-0 lead before taking three singles matches in the victory.
Senior Miriam Galindo Cerrada (Madrid, Spain) teamed with sophomore Mareike Mueller (Amesbury, Mass.) to battle to an 8-7 (6) victory at number one doubles over the Colby-Sawyer duo of first year Grace Carpenter (Milford, N.H.) and junior Emily Hill (Wilmington, Mass.). Galindo Cerrada also won at first singles over Carpenter and dropped just two games in a 6-0, 6-2 win.
The Lyons were victorious at second doubles as well. Senior Alexis Acosta (Albuquerque, N.M.) paired with classmate Katie Steinberg (Cumberland, Maine) for an 8-3 win over first years Elise Hogan (Duxbury, Mass.) and Lily Tria (Westerly, R.I.). Steinberg continued her winning ways at singles play, downing Hogan at third singles in a tremendous display of resilience. After Hogan took the opening set, 6-4, Steinberg roared back with a 6-0 effort in the second frame, before winning the third set, 7-5, for the match win to also give Wheaton the fifth and deciding point.
First year Izzy Kruse (Woodstock, Ga.) and sophomore Zoe West (Flushing, N.Y.) were taken to the limit by the Chargers' first year Amelia Campanella (Chepachet, R.I.) and senior Amira Eid (Pelham, N.H.). The Wheaton duo pulled out the match at number three doubles, 8-7 with a 7-4 tie-breaker. Kruse went on to win her singles match at number five over Campanella with far less trouble, 6-3, 6-1.
Colby-Sawyer's three points came in singles play. Hill topped Acosta, 6-1, 6-2, at number two singles, while Eid gutted out a 7-6 (1) first set over Mueller before finding her rhythm for a 6-2 win in the second set at fourth singles. Tria needed three sets to overcome West at number six singles. West won the first set for the Lyons, 6-3, before Tria came back with a 7-5 decision in the second and a 10-6 showing in the third.
Wheaton returns to the courts on Saturday, April 2 when it travels to South Hadley, Mass. to take on Mount Holyoke College to open the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference slate at 12:00 p.m.
