Box Score NORTHAMPTON - The Smith College tennis team clinched a spot in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championship for the first time since 2009 with a 9-0 victory over Clark University Tuesday afternoon. 

Records

• Smith 7-5, 4-3 NEWMAC
• Clark 1-7, 0-6 NEWMAC

The first point of the day came in the No. 1 position where Lili and Clara Goshgarian (Lake Forest, IL/Lake Forest) played dominant doubles. The pair quickly got the point for Smith winning 8-0. 

The second point of the day came in the No. 2 slot, where Ashley Felix (El Paso, TX/Americas) and Alexa Monos (Wyomissing, PA/Wilson) paired up to continue their string of wins. The duo played steady tennis to outlast and out play their opponents only dropping two games on their way to an 8-2 win, and making their record for the season 3-0. 

The last point of the day came at No. 3 where Anna Maffa (Lexington, MA/Lexington) and Joyce Lee (Portland, OR/Beaverton) paired up for their debut of the season. The match started with Maffa and Lee exchanging games with Seyoufi and Allen of Clark. Maffa and Lee jumped ahead to the 5-4 lead playing a lights out service game with Maffa serving and Joyce covering everything up at net. On the change of ends, the team from Clark raised their level of play becoming more aggressive up at net and taking advantage of some errors from the Smith team to win two straight games and take the 6-5 lead. With the entire Smith Team on the sidelines and an incredible group of fans in the crowd, Maffa and Lee showed their belief, breaking serve to even the match at 6-6. On the next service game, Joyce Lee (Portland, OR/Beaverton) had an incredible hold, quickly going up 40-0. The Clark team tried to battle back, but at 40-30, Lee served out the game, giving Smith the 7-6 lead. In the final return game, Smith was too steady and closed out the match and earned Smith the doubles sweep.

In exhibition doubles action, first year Dayana Caluna (Planfield, NJ/College Achieve) teamed up with senior Sariah Akhdar (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia/JESS Arabian Ranches). The pair from Smith, having never played doubles together in a match, got off to a shaky start. The two found their groove at 4-2 down and played dominant doubles to win 6 straight games to take the set 8-4.

In singles action, Smith continued their dominant and steady play only dropping 5 games across 6 matches. 

The final point of the day came in the No. 5 position, where senior Ashley Felix (El Paso, TX/Americas) dictated play, and played steady on the big points to secure a 6-0, 6-1 win giving her a 2-0 record on senior day. 

In exhibition singles action, Sariah Akhdar (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia/JESS Arabian Ranches) came out strong, mixing up play to keep her opponent guessing the entire match. Akhdar won quick 8 games to get herself a 2-0 record on senior day as well. 

Up Next
Smith wraps up the regular season Saturday, April 22 at Wellesley at 11:00am. 

About Smith Athletics: Smith College is a NCAA Division III member of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference that sponsors 11 intercollegiate sports. For more information log on to smithpioneers.com and follow us on Facebook and Instagram.