MEDFORD, Mass. – The No. 12 MIT women's tennis team fell to No. 14 Tufts University, 5-2, on Wednesday. The tightly contested battle had six matches go to a tiebreaker while a trio of singles matches went to three sets.
THE BASICS:
- Score: No. 14 Tufts 5, No. 12 MIT 2
- Records: No. 12 MIT (4-2 Overall); No. 14 Tufts (6-0 Overall)
HOW IT HAPPENED - DOUBLES:
- Junior Stephanie Woodbury (Memphis, Tenn.) and sophomore Natalie Hu (Scarsdale, N.Y.) defeated juniors Alaina Kolli (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) and Artemis Pados (Delray Beach, Fla.), 6-0, in the top spot.
- In the No. 2 position, senior Jay Lu (Austin, Texas) and first-year Chloe Zeng (Austin, Texas) jumped out to a 5-2 lead. However, juniors Rachel Cranley (Hertfordshire, England) and Lucy Mitchell (Chicago, Ill.) battled back to tie the match at 6-6. In the tiebreak MIT built a 4-2 lead, but Tufts won the next three points to go in front. After trading points, the Engineers rattled off three in a row to claim a 7-6 (8-6) victory.
- First-years Brooklyn Bindas (Rochester, Mass.) and Melanie Woodbury (Memphis, Tenn.) quickly built a 4-1 lead against sophomores Saina Deshpande (Pune, India) and Anastasia Samets (Ocean, N.J.) in the No. 3 slot. MIT won the next four games, however, both squads traded victories to force the tiebreaker. Trailing 2-1, Deshpande and Samets put together a 5-2 run to go ahead 6-4. Bindas and Melanie Woodbury responded by winning four straight points, securing the 7-6 (8-6) victory and capturing the doubles point.
HOW IT HAPPENED - SINGLES:
- In the top spot, Zeng raced out to a 5-0 lead over Melanie Woodbury in the first set en route to a 6-3 victory. In a back-and-forth second set, Woodbury forced a tiebreaker. Zeng won three of the first four points and held off Woodbury for a 7-5 decision.
- Junior Ellie Gershaw (Kirkland, Wash.) built a 5-1 advantage against Lu in the No. 2 position before going on to secure a 6-3 win the first set. In the second set Lu established a 5-2 lead, but Gershaw came from behind to win the set 7-5.
- Kolli won the first two games as she went on to capture a 6-1 win against Mitchell in the No. 3 slot. In the second set, Kolli trailed 4-1 but won four games in row. After trading games, Mitchell forced a tiebreaker. She recorded four consecutive points to go ahead before securing a 7-4 victory over Kolli. Tied at 2-2 in the third set, Mitchell won the last four games to give the Jumbos a 3-1 lead.
- In a back-and-forth battle at the No. 4 position, Deshpande won the last three games of the first set to defeat first-year Athena Li (Foxborough, Mass.), 6-3. However, Li evened the match with a 6-2 decision in the second set. Deshpande built a 5-2 advantage in the third set, but Li battled back to force a tiebreaker. She maintained her momentum as she established a 5-2 lead, however, Deshpande chipped away at the deficit, fighting off match point twice before capturing the 9-7 win.
- Hu clinched the match by defeating Samets, 6-3, 6-2, in the No. 5 spot.
- First-year Megan Sun (Newbury Park, Calif.) won the first three games of the match and later led, 5-2, but junior Nicole Kintiroglou (New Vernon, N.J.) came back to tie the set at 6-6. In the tiebreaker, Kintiroglou gradually built 4-2 edge, but Sun rallied for the 7-4 win. In the second set, Kintiroglou won three straight games to go up, 5-3, en route to a 6-4 victory. Using the super tiebreaker for the third set, Kintiroglou led throughout as she ended the night with a 10-6 win.
UP NEXT:
- MIT will host Hamilton College on Saturday, March 15 at 10:00 AM.
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