CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Simmons College women's tennis team was defeated by visiting Babson College, 9-0, this afternoon at the Beren Tennis Center on the campus of Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. The Beavers did not drop a set in the match and improve to a perfect 4-0, while the Sharks fall to 3-2 on the season.
Senior Alex Freeman (Medfield, Mass.) teamed with first year Yagmur Akgul (Istanbul, Turkey) to breeze at first doubles, 8-1, over the Simmons junior duo of Meg Cokely (Haverhill, Mass.)(4-1 singles, 1-4 doubles) and Caroline Khoury (Portsmouth, Ohio) (1-3 singles, 1-4 doubles). Freeman was just as dominant in singles action, taking a 6-1, 6-0 triumph at number one over sophomore Theresa Reinhard (Canton, Ohio) (1-4 singles, 2-3 doubles). Akgul defeated Cokely at number two singles, 6-2, 6-0, to halt Cokely's four-match singles win streak. The Babson pair of senior Alexis Ferraro (Coral Gables, Fla.) and junior Tori Paolino (East Orleans, Mass.) found itself tied at second doubles, 5-5, with the Sharks' Reinhard and junior Rachael Downey (Groveland, Mass.) (2-3 singles, 2-3 doubles) before winning the final three games for an 8-5 victory. First years Kylie Kam (Honolulu, Hawaii) and Jenny Quenard (St. Legier, Switzerland) combined to defeat Simmons' junior Katie Crowley (Reading, Mass.) (3-2 singles, 3-2 doubles) and sophomore Tatiana Yugay (Westborough, Mass.) (0-1 doubles), 8-1, at number three doubles.
Quenard cruised past Downey at third singles for the Beavers, 6-2, 6-0, while Paolino took down Khoury at fourth singles, 6-0, 6-0 for the visitors. Ferraro upended Crowley at fifth singles for another Babson win, 6-3, 6-1 and first year Claire Foster (Orange, Conn.) also picked up a win for the Beavers at sixth singles over Sharks' first year Han DK Le (Vietnam/Matignon HS (Mass)) (3-2 singles).
Simmons returns to the courts on Saturday, September 13 when it heads to West Hartford, Conn. to take on Saint Joseph College at 2:00 p.m. in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference opener, while Babson heads to Beverly, Mass. tomorrow for a 3:30 p.m. tilt with Endicott College.
