THE BASICS:
 
- Score: No. 10 MIT 5, No. 31 Brandeis University 4
 
- Records: MIT (1-0), Brandeis (0-1)
 
- Location: Waltham, Mass. (Gosman Sports and Convocation Center)
 
- The Lead: First-year Anastasia Samets (Ocean, N.J.) came from behind to win her No. 6 singles match and clinch the 5-4 victory for the No. 10 MIT women's tennis team over No. 31 Brandeis University. The spring season opener between both squads lasted almost six-and-a-half hours on Saturday.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 
- Senior Kimberly Liao (Commack, N.Y.) and first-year Nishi Gandra (Mason, Ohio) fell to Bhakti Parwani and Rebecca Suarez, 8-3, in top doubles spot. However, MIT picked up wins in the next two positions. Sophomores Alaina Kolli (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) and Artemis Pados (Delray Beach, Calif.) collaborated for an 8-5 victory over Huayi Zhang and Sabrina Loui while first-year Saina Deshpande (Pune, India) and Samets outlasted Cecilia Dennis and Chahana Budhbhatti, 8-7, winning the tiebreaker, 8-6.
 
- Kolli gave the Engineers a 3-1 lead after she defeated Zhang, 7-5, 6-2, in the No. 3 singles slot. Parwani topped Liao, 6-4, 6-4, in the No. 2 spot, but Deshpande earned the next point at No. 4 as Loui withdrew with Deshpande leading, 3-0, in the first set.
 
- Brandeis was victorious at the No. 1 and No. 5 positions, tying the match score at four. First-year Katya Shepherd Johnson (Takoma Park, Md.) won the first set of her match with Suarez, 6-4, but fell by 6-3 margins in the next two sets. In the No. 5 slot, Budbhatti defeated Pados, 6-2, 6-4.
 
- In the decisive match at No. 6 singles, Samets fell to Sia, 6-2, in the first set. Trailing in the second set 5-4, 40-30, Samets rallied for a 7-6 victory, including a 7-2 performance in the tiebreaker. In the third set, Samets jumped out to a 5-1 lead before going on to claim a 6-2 win and clinch the match for MIT.
 
UP NEXT:
 
- MIT will host Southern New Hampshire University and Assumption University for scrimmages on Saturday, Feb. 17 and 24, respectively. First serve is slated for 10:00 a.m. on both days.
 
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