AMHERST, MA. – Amherst College women's tennis opened the New England Women's Intercollegiate Tennis Tournament (NEWITT), co-hosted by Amherst and Smith College, on Friday. Two Amherst teams advanced. Senior Greta Stechschulte and first-year Ruzi Iscen won their A draw round-of-16 match against Wellesley, and sophomores Maya Muhunthan and Sameera Talwar swept Wellesley in the B draw. Cayna Ghaly, playing alongside Middlebury's Lauren Oliver, also moved on in the B draw.

NEWITT is played in a BJK Cup-style format. Each round is a team match of two singles matches and one doubles match, and the side that wins two of the three advances.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Stechschulte comes back to clinch. With the A draw match against Wellesley tied after Iscen fell in a three-setter, Stechschulte rallied from a set down to beat Suzanne Xu, 1-6, 6-3, [10-5]. Amherst then took the doubles, 6-2, to win the match 2-1.
• Muhunthan and Talwar sweep. The sophomore duo beat Wellesley's Lily Cade and Kriti Sarav, 3-0. Muhunthan won a tight three-setter, 7-6 (7), 4-6, [10-7], and Talwar won 6-0, 6-3. The pair then won the doubles in a tiebreak, 7-6 (1).
• Ghaly advances with a Middlebury partner. Ghaly and Oliver beat Springfield's Peyton Gaudreau, Nadia Andrew and Kapon Vettayawaikoon to reach Saturday's round in the B draw

RESULTS

A Draw: Round of 16
Greta Stechschulte/Ruzi Iscen (Amherst) def. Wellesley, 2-1
Singles: Greta Stechschulte def. Suzanne Xu, 1-6, 6-3, [10-5]
Singles: Ruzi Iscen lost to Kakou Narita, 6-1, 5-7, [4-10]
Doubles: Stechschulte/Iscen def. Suzanne Xu/Kakou Narita, 6-2

Anwitha Duduka/Gabrielle Shiao (Amherst) lost to Williams
Singles: Anwitha Duduka lost to Ayanna Varma, 1-6, 6-7 (5)
Doubles: Duduka/Shiao lost to Ayanna Varma/Katie Kendall, 1-6

B Draw: First Round
Maya Muhunthan/Sameera Talwar (Amherst) def. Wellesley, 3-0
Singles: Maya Muhunthan def. Kriti Sarav, 7-6 (7), 4-6, [10-7]
Singles: Sameera Talwar def. Lily Cade, 6-0, 6-3
Doubles: Muhunthan/Talwar def. Cade/Sarav, 7-6 (1)

Cayna Ghaly (Amherst)/Lauren Oliver (Middlebury) def. Springfield
Def. Peyton Gaudreau/Nadia Andrew/Kapon Vettayawaikoon.

UP NEXT
Play continues Saturday, Oct. 10, with four Amherst teams in action at the Amherst Tennis Courts, beginning at 9 AM. In the A draw, Stechschulte and Iscen face Middlebury's Diya Pachumuthu and Caitlin Chan, and Tina She and Lily Dounchis take on MIT's Chloe Zeng and Carley Chen. In the B draw, Muhunthan and Talwar meet Trinity's Naisha Rathi and Emilia Romano, while Ghaly and Oliver face Williams' Zoe Yao, Katelyn Wu and Margau Molyneux.