Wellesley Girls’ Tennis Rolls Into Semis

Facing a familiar opponent, the Wellesley girls' tennis team got a familiar result.

Wellesley beat Framingham for the second time in a week, dropping only two sets on their way to a 4-1 win and the South Division 1 semifinal.

"Everybody had times in their matches where they played well," said Wellesley coach Alex Brazier.

Senior Jane Machetti made quick work of her opponent Jenny Goldstein with a 6-0, 6-0 victory that set the tone for her team.

 "Jane at third singles was outstanding," said Brazier. "She was very solid and consistent and really played the way she needed to."

Winning points in the singles matches was key to the Raiders' success, as the doubles teams faced some tough opponents.

"I think it was important to make sure we got a singles point and held our own at doubles," said Brazier. "In both doubles matches it was very, very tight first sets, so that made it a little bit dicey for us, but they responded really well."

Though neither pair lost a set, both doubles teams played a close first game before rallying to pick up solid wins in the second. First doubles pair Lucy Brennan and Haley Blatz defeated Krista Dyan and Rebecca Lach 6-4, 6-2, and Katie Cecere and Evelyn Garrity defeated Taylor Wolfe and Keiana Russo 7-5, 6-1 in second doubles.

"I was disappointed with the way both doubles teams played in the first set, but both really made up for it in the second set," said Brazier.

In first singles, sophomore Abby Henry played calm and minimized her errors to beat Framingham's Alex Hadlock, 6-4, 7-5.

"I was very, very impressed with Abby's performance and her consistency at first singles," said Brazier.

The only match the Raiders lost was the best match of the day, as Caroline Taylor fell to Lauren Taylor 7-6, 6-7, 11-9. Taylor did well to battle back after losing a tough first set and never gave in despite knowing her team had already secured a win.

"Caroline we knew was going to have a tough, tough match," said Brazier. "I'm very proud of how she forced it into a third set. It was a little bit difficult for her because she knew at that point that we had won the match, so she might not have been playing with the same urgency, but I really liked the way she turned around her game after losing the first set, which was tough."

Wellesley will look to advance to the finals when it faces 5^th-seeded Barnstable at home on Wednesday.