September 22, 2011

MIT Falls To Tufts In Battle of Ranked Teams

Cambridge, Mass. – In an early season battle of ranked women's tennis opponents, it was No. 5 Tufts that came out on top over No. 22 MIT at the J.B. Carr Indoor Tennis Facility, as the Jumbos took a 7-2 decision over the Engineers. It was the first win of the season for Tufts (1-1), and the first loss for MIT (2-1, 2-0 NEWMAC).

Tufts took an early advantage in the match, sweeping the three doubles contests to take the early 3-0 lead. The closest that MIT came in the doubles matches was at Nos. 1 and 3 where they dropped 8-4 decisions. Tufts duo of Samantha Gann and Janice Lam scored the first point of the day at No. 2 where they took an 8-3 win over MIT's team of sophomore Julia Hsu (Knoxville, Tenn.) and freshman Michelle Dutt (Gurnee, Ill.).

In singles play a pair of freshmen picked up victories for the Engineers. It was Dutt that put the first point on the board for MIT, bouncing back from a first set loss to take a 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 win over Shelci Bowman in the No. 2 match. At No. 5 it was freshman Vynnie Kong (Cupertino, Calif.) gaining a 6-3, 6-1 win over Lam.

Two other matches went to three sets, but went to the Tufts side of the scoreboard. Hsu fell at No. 4 in a 2-6, 6-2, 7-5 decision to Gann, while senior Anastasia Vishnevetsky (Orange, Conn.) dropped a 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-4 match to Lauren Hollender.

MIT will return to NEWMAC Conference action on Saturday, Sept. 24 when it travels to Mount Holyoke College for a 1:00 p.m. match with the Lyons.