Springfield, Mass. - October 22, 2014 - The Springfield College women's tennis program fell at the hands of Babson College, 5-1 on Wednesday afternoon in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) quarterfinals hosted at the Springfield College Field House.
The Pride, who were the No. 6 seed heading into the tournament, hosted a NEWMAC tournament match for the first time in the programs history. Springfield received its first ever point in a NEWMAC Championship tournament match on Wednesday, when junior captains Ariana Shemms (Goshen, Conn.) and Melanie Thulin (Manchester Center, Vt.) defeated Alexis Ferraro (Coral Gables, Fla.) and Tori Paolino (East Orleans, Mass.) 8-3, making the match 2-1, Babson at No. 2 doubles.
With the victory, Babson, the No. 3 seed, will go on to the semi-finals and return to Babson to play No. 2 Wellesley on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
To begin the match, Yagmur Akgul (Istanbul, Turkey) and Alex Freeman (Medfield, Mass.) cleaned up in the No. 1 singles slot versus Rachel London (Port Jefferson, N.J.) and Stephanie Foster (Woodbridge, Conn.) 8-0, while Jenny Quenard (St.-Legier, Switzerland) and Kylie Kam (Honolulu, Hawaii) blanked Stephani Post (Westford, Mass.) and Rachel Litchfield (Northbridge, Mass.) in the No. 3 slot.
In the No. 1 singles, Akgur bested London 6-1, 6-0, while Freeman defeated Foster in the No. 2 singles, 6-0, 6-2. In the No. 3 singles, Quenard defeated Litchfield 6-0, 6-0 to ice the 5-1 victory for the Beavers.
