NORTON, Mass. -- The Wheaton College (Mass.) women's tennis team was defeated by No. 6 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 9-0, this afternoon in a New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference at Beard Field House on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass. The Lyons dip to 5-12 overall and 2-5 in NEWMAC play, while the Engineers improve to 15-1 and a perfect 8-0.
MIT was strong in singles play, dropping just three games among all six matches. Junior Sarah Pertsemlidis (Coppell, Texas) won the first set, 6-2, before closing out the match at number one singles with a 6-0 second frame over Wheaton senior Miriam Galindo Cerrada (Madrid, Spain). Sophomore Kimberly Liao (Commack, N.Y.) did not drop a game in a 6-0, 6-0 victory at second singles over the Lyons senior Katie Steinberg (Cumberland, Maine). Junior Seraphin Castelino (Superior, Colo.) won for the Engineers at number three singles in a 6-0, 6-0 showing over Wheaton senior Alexis Acosta (Albuquerque, N.M.). First year Jessica Lu (Austin, Texas) earned victory at fourth singles with a 6-1, 6-0 effort over Lyon first year Izzy Kruse (Woodstock, Ga.) MIT did not lose a game at fifth and sixth singles with both sophomore Irene Huang (San Diego, Calif.) and junior Sara Fernandez (South Miami, Fla.) winning, 6-0, 6-0, respectively over Wheaton sophomore Mareike Mueller (Amesbury, Mass.) and senior Jessica Love (Toronto, Ont.).
The most competitive match of the day came at number one doubles. Pertsemlidis combined with Castelino to earn an 8-5 triumph over the Lyon duo of Galindo Cerrada and Mueller. Lu teamed with Engineer graduate student Megan Guenther (Willowbrook, Ill.) to gain an 8-1 win at second doubles over Acosta and Steinberg. Fernandez coupled with first year Annie Dong (Rockville, Md.) for an 8-0 victory at number three doubles over the Wheaton duo of Kruse and Love.
MIT returns to play on April 29 when it hosts No. 9 Amherst College at 5:00 p.m., while the Lyons travel to Worcester, Mass. on the same day to take on Clark University in NEWMAC action at 3:30 p.m.
