THE BASICS:
 
- Score: No. 12 MIT 8, No. 27 Caltech 1
 
- Records: MIT (5-2), Caltech (3-6)
 
- Location: Pasadena, Calif. (Tennis Courts)
 
- The Lead: The No. 12 MIT women's tennis team kicked off its spring training trip with an 8-1 victory at No. 27 Caltech on Tuesday afternoon.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 
- Senior Kimberly Liao (Commack, N.Y.) and junior Jay Lu (Austin, Texas) defeated Anika Arora and Yoyo Benchetrit, 8-3, in the top doubles spot while first-years Anastasia Samets (Ocean, N.J.) and Saina Deshpande (Pune, India) quickly followed with their own 8-3 victory against Emily Zhang and Anna Tanaka in the No. 3 slot. Sophomores Alaina Kolli (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) and Artemis Pados (Delray Beach, Calif.) completed the sweep with an 8-5 decision over Payal Patel and Hannah Ramsperger.
 
- Liao notched the Engineers' first singles win as she defeated Benchetrit, 6-0, 6-1, in the No. 2 position. Desphande clinched the match as she topped Arora, 6-3, 6-2, in the No. 4 spot as Lu increased MIT's lead to 6-0 following her 6-2, 6-4 win versus Ramsperger in the No. 3 slot. First-year Katya Shepherd Johnson (Takoma Park, Md.) followed with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Zhang at the top of the singles ladder, however, the Beavers got on the board when Patel bested Samets, 5-7, 6-2, 1-0 (8) in the No. 5 position. Pados picked up the final point of the day as she defeated Anna Szczuka, 7-6 (8), 6-3 in a battle at No. 6 singles that lasted two hours and 16 minutes.
 
UP NEXT:
 
- MIT concludes its California trip on Friday, March 29 when it visits No. 1 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps for a 2:00 p.m. Eastern match.
 
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