THE BASICS:
 
- Location: Middletown, Conn. (John Wood Memorial Tennis Courts)
 
- The Lead: At the 2023 ITA New England Regional Championship, first-year Katya Shepherd Johnson (Takoma Park, Md.) led the Engineers as she advanced to the semifinals in the A singles draw. MIT tied the program record for most players selected to play in this year's ITA Regionals as the Engineers had eight singles players and four doubles. In addition, this marked the fourth straight year that that a member of the MIT women's tennis program advanced to at least the semifinal round dating back to 2019.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED IN SINGLES ACTION:
 
- Shepherd Johnson picked up a 6-3, 6-0 win over Angelina Shyltsyna of Trinity in the first round, followed by a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Lily Dounchis of Amherst to reach the round of 16.
 
- Behind a pair of 6-4, 6-4 straight-set finals, Shepherd Johnson was into the semifinals as she toppled Anna Larnder of Middlebury and Ally Friedman of Bates along the way. Her tournament came to an end on Sunday though as she dropped a 6-2, 6-3 final to Sarah Youngberg of Wesleyan. Youngberg had moved into the semifinals with a three-set victory over top-seeded Olivia Soffer of Babson.
 
- Senior Kimberly Liao (Commack, N.Y.) advanced to the second round with a 6-1, 6-4 opening-round victory over Kiana Thompson of Regis, while junior Jay Lu (Austin, Texas) moved onto the second round after a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Sydney Landau from Colby. First-year Saina Deshpande (Pune, India) earned a first-round win as well, defeating Ellie Gershaw of Colby before dropping a hard-fought, three-set second-round matchup to No. 8 seeded Sophie Diop from Amherst.
 
- In the singles B draw, first-year Alicen Liu (Novi, Mich.) and sophomore Alaina Kolli (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) each advanced to the quarterfinals, while first-year Anastasia Samets (Ocean, N.J.) defeated Jane Ladaga of Williams to advance.
 
A LOOK INSIDE THE DOUBLES BRACKET:
 
- In doubles, No. 6 seeded Liao and Lu earned a first-round bye before defeating Allie Francis and Naisha Rathi from Trinity by an 8-0 shutout. In the round of 16, Liao and Lu came up just short as they battled Maddie Swire and Amy Cui from Amherst in an 8-7 (1) final.
 
UP NEXT:
 
- The Engineers wrap up the fall season on October 6-8 as the team travels to Northampton, Mass. for the NEWITT Tournament, hosted by Smith College.
 
STAY CONNECTED:
 
For the latest on MIT Athletics, follow the Engineers via social media on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.