THE BASICS:
 
- Score: No. 3 Pomona-Pitzer 6, No. 12 MIT 1
 
- Records: MIT (1-1), Pomona-Pitzer (5-1)
 
- Location: Nicholasville, K.Y. (Top Seed Tennis Club)
 
- The Lead: In the opening round of the ITA Division III National Women's Team Indoor Championship, No. 3 Pomona-Pitzer defeated No. 12 MIT, 6-1, on Friday afternoon.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 
- In the top doubles spot, Lauren Rha and Nina Ye defeated junior Jay Lu (Austin, Texas) and senior Kimberly Liao (Commack, N.Y.), 6-1. The No. 3 tandem of first-years Saina Deshpande (Pune, India) and Anastasia Samets (Ocean, N.J.) evened the competition by topping Samantha Moore-Thomson and Alexandra Coleman, 6-4. However, the Sagehens won the decisive doubles match to claim a 1-0 lead heading into singles action as Nyakariri Kanefu and Angie Zhou bested sophomores Artemis Pados (Delray Beach, Calif.) and Alaina Kolli (Buffalo Grove, Ill.), 6-4.
 
- Samets fell to Ye, 6-3, 6-2, in the No. 6 singles slot but Deshpande defeated Amelia Poor, 6-4, 6-0, in the No. 5 position to bring MIT within 2-1.
 
- However, Pomona-Pitzer went on to claim the remaining singles matches to capture a 6-1 victory. Kolli dropped a hard-fought 6-2, 6-4 decision to Marissa Markey in the No. 4 spot while Zhou battled first-year Katya Shepherd Johnson (Takoma Park, Md.) for a 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 win at the top of the ladder. Rha edged out Lu, 9-7, in the second-set tiebreak of their No. 3 match to secure a 6-3, 7-6 victory. In a match that lasted just over two hours, Kanefu topped Liao, 6-3, 2-6, 6-1.
 
UP NEXT:
 
- MIT will play No. 12 Sewanee in the consolation bracket on Saturday, March 2 at 9:00 a.m.
 
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