THE BASICS:
 
- Location: Northampton, Mass. (Smith College)
 
- The Lead: At the 2023 NEWITT Tournament, the MIT women's tennis team claimed the A Draw Consolation Championship and finished as the runner-up in the A Draw Championship bracket match. In the consolation bracket, the duo of first-years Saina Deshpande (Pune, India) and Anastasia Samets (Ocean, N.J.) earned the win, while junior Jay Lu (Austin, Texas) and sophomore Artemis Pados (Delray Beach, Fla.) finished as the runner-up in the championship bracket. The event wraps up the fall season for the Engineers.
 
NEWITT TOURNAMENT AWARDS:
 
- Lu earned the Lynn Miller Warrior Award, joining Sarah Pertsemlidis '23 and Elysa Kohrs '18 as the only MIT players to capture the honor. The Lynn Miller Warrior Award is awarded to a current junior or senior player who embodies competitiveness in playing sport while competing with the highest level of integrity.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 
- After falling by a 2-1 final to the top-seeded duo from Wesleyan in the first round, Deshpande and Samets defeated Rachel Cranley and Sophie Wax of Tufts in a 2-1 final to move to the consolation semis. The pair earned a 3-0 shutout win in the semifinals, en route to a 2-1 victory in the consolation final over Natalie Hu and Stephanie Woodbury from Tufts. In that match, Samets won her singles matchup by a 6-3, 6-1 margin, along with an 8-7 (7-4) win in doubles.
 
- Lu and Pados picked up the opening win over Hu and Woodbury of Tufts, followed by a 2-1 victory over Amy Cui and Katie Hart from Amherst. In the semis, Lu won her singles match to go along with an 8-5 MIT win in the doubles match to move onto the final. In that match, Lu again won her singles match before Lily Dounchis and Delila Friedman of Amherst came away with an 8-6 victory in doubles to win the title.
 
- First-years Katya Shepherd Johnson (Takoma Park, Md.) and Sophia Min (Naples, Fla.) earned a 2-1 victory over Josephine Kimball and Angelina Shyltsyna of Trinity in round one as they won both singles matches. The duo then dropped a 2-1 final to eventual champions Friedman and Dounchis of Amherst as Shepherd Johnson won her singles match in an 8-5 final.
 
- No. 3 seed senior Kimberly Liao (Commack, N.Y.) and sophomore Alaina Kolli (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) dropped a 3-0 final to Sophie Diop and Greta Stechschulte of Amherst and moved to the consolation bracket. Liao and Kolli rebounded for a 2-1 victory over Zoe Kava and Rebecca Lim of Tufts to advance to the semifinals of the consolation bracket before falling in the semifinal round.
 
UP NEXT:
 
- The Engineers begin the spring season on Saturday, February 10th as the team travels to Brandeis University for a non-conference start beginning at 11 a.m.
 
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