WELLESLEY, Mass.--The Smith College tennis team opened the first day of the Seven Sisters Championship with matching 5-0 losses to Wellesley College and Vassar College on Saturday afternoon.  

In the opener against the Blue, who were runner up in the NEWMAC tournament last fall, Smith came closest to a win at No. 3 singles, as first year Allie Ryan (Springfield, Mass./Springfield Central ) fell to Kendall Tada 6-3, 6-1.  Erica Choo topped Smith's Eunice Zhao (Las Vegas, Nev./Liberty) 6-2, 6-0 at No. 2 singles, and Marie Watanabe knocked off Rachel Canfora (Chicago, Ill./Fenwick) 6-0, 6-1 at No. 1.

In doubles play, the duo of Jacqueline Shen and Diana Granger edged Maggie Steiner (Madison, Conn./Academy of Our Lady of Mercy) and Ally Hawkins 6-0, 6-1, and Nawal Mays (Niskayuna, N.Y./Emma Willard) and Meghan Smith (Danvers, Mass./Danvers) lost to Nathalie Herman and Raji Nagalla 6-2, 6-0. 


The matchup against Vassar saw Steiner and Hawkins face off against Nicole Block and Allison Roush, who won 6-1, 6-0, and Mays and Smith fell to Lindsay Kantor and Nicole Santiago 6-0, 6-0.

In singles play, both Ryan and Canfora fell by 6-0, 6-0 scores.  Ryan was defeated by Jennifer Ruther at No. 3, while Canfora fell to Jennifer Beckerman at the No. 1 spot.  Zhao battled Joy Backer before losing 6-1, 6-0. 

Smith will resume competition with matchups against Mt. Holyoke at 9 a.m. and Bryn Mawr at 1:30 pm to conclude the championship.