9/30/08 - Wellesley 8, Wheaton 1
9/20/08 - Wellesley 9, Clark 0
9/13/08 - Wellesley 9, Smith 0
ITA Regional Wrap-up
The ITA New England Regional was held this past weekend at MIT in Cambridge, MA where schools from all over the New England region competed in the most tough section of the country for Division 3 women’s tennis. The Blue were represented by 5 singles players and 2 doubles teams, this was more than any other school except Williams and Amherst. First Year Marie Watanabe (Houston, TX), and Senior co-captain Jen Schwarzkopf (Hinsdale, IL) were both seeded at this years event, While Shivani Saxena (Milan, Italy), Jacqueline Shen (Calgary, Canada), and Junior co-captain Meghan Stubblebine (Cumming, GA) rounded off the singles field. Watanabe teamed up with fellow first year Grace Cheng (Columbia, MD), and Schwarzkopf matched up with Junior Mohona Siddique (Chevy Chase, MD) in the doubles draw.
Friday got off to a great start with Jacqueline Shen steamrolling over Meg Anderson of Bates 6-2, 6-2. Following that was an incredibly hard fought match by Schwarzkopf who showed what type of a competitor she is by pulling out the 3rd set match tie-breaker 10-5 while being down 3-0. With a great volley that tipped off the net and rolled over the other side got things going for Jen, her attacking style and sheer consistency prevailed. In perhaps the most dominating performance of Friday, Watanabe showed Amherst’s Jill Wexler (ranked 17 in northeast region last year) the door by soundly dismissing her 6-1, 6-2. Also in action was Meghan Stubblebine who was coming off a two week hiatus from sickness to give it her all losing to eventual winner Julia Browne of Tufts, 6-2, 6-0. Shivani Saxena got perhaps the toughest first round draw against Vassar number 1 Nicole Pontee who benefited from the fast surface indoors at the field house. While Saxena had a chance to get even at 5-5 in the first set and make a huge swing, it wasn’t met to be, as the hard hitter from Vassar squeaked out the first set and then the match, 6-4, 6-1.
The second Round of Singles had 3 Blue players left, Shen, Watanabe, and Schwarzkopf. Shen ended up losing a tough match against quarter-finalist Nikki Reich of Williams, 6-3, 6-0. The first set was close, and Jacqueline showed off her great forehand and slice backhand, but eventually fell to Reich. Schwarzkopf played freshmen standout Laura Danzig (Amherst) in her second round, getting up 5-3 and in prime position to take the first set, yet Danzig used her power to get back in the match and pull out the Match 7-5, 6-2. In Watanabe’s second round she square doff against Williams Katie Friedman, and soundly took care of business knocking out yet another one of the NESCAC schools players, 6-0, 6-1.
The Doubles action got off to a great start on Friday night, with First years Watanabe and Cheng overpowering the rival Smith team of Inskeep and Teague 8-1. However, in the best match of the year to date, Schwarzkopf and partner Siddique went on court against seeded foes from Middlubury, Aiello and Clarke. The match was very tight, with the Blue maintaining a slight lead throughout with All-American caliber playing from Siddique who used her incredible hands to hit half volleys and poaches that would make Macenroe jealous. At 5-5, The Blue stepped it up and were able to get big returns from Schwarzkopf who just kept pressuring the Middlebury team. The Blue pulled it out 8-5.
The second day of action started off in great fashion with Marie Watanabe dominating Bowdoins Brett Davis who in the previous round had knocked off 5th seed McCooey from Tufts. Marie was able to use her stellar forehand to dictate points, while keeping her backhand as solid as could be. Davis just didn’t have enough for the first year from Wellesley, as Marie pulled it out easily 6-2, 6-1. Next up for Marie was the 4th seed from Tufts, Julia Browne. Browne who earlier in the draw had taken out co-captain Meghan Stubblebine was fresh off of a great match against Amherst’s Nikki Reich. The eventual champion proved to be too much for Watanabe as the tight first set where Marie was able to fight off 2 set points with great play went to the 4th seed 6-4. While Marie put up a fight that represented the Blue strong, it wasn’t enough. She fell in the quart-finals 6-4, 6-0.
At the end of the day, Watanabe and Cheng teamed up to play the team from Amherst, Wexler/Danzig, the 6th seed. This match up of the two power hitters from Amherst was too much for the first years, and they fell 8-4. On the other side of the draw, Schwarzkopf and Siddique squashed the Tufts team of Lavet and Stewart 8-1. With great teamwork and great play both from the baseline and the net, the duo stormed into the quarter-finals ready to play the 2nd seed from Amherst, Berckes and Brown. The Blue got off to a shaky start going down 4-0, but showed why they were in the quarterfinals by pulling out a crucial game to head into the changeover at 4-1. This helped shift the momentum and eventually at 6-4, the game of the match on Schwarzkopf’s serve went back and forth. Many game points and break points were saved, formations used, volley’s hit, but eventually the game went to Amherst. The next changeover was important for the team, they needed the next game and went out to fight to the end. They saved a bunch of match points but were unable to stop the squad from Amherst, final score 8-4.
This weekend was good over all, with wins over such great schools and great players. We had all the team come out to root on the players in the draw, and had family and friends there as well. The support was great, and the team came away with a lot of great lessons learned. The most important lesson is that Wellesley Tennis is here to stay and here to win. Great job Blue, it was a fun weekend, and I am sure next year we will do even better. Thanks to all of you who came out and watched and for those of you who were following the progress via internet, or phone calls. All of your support was felt, and we hope to have you come to our home match Tuesday September 30 against Wheaton!
GO BLUE!
~Brian Kuscher