CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – In a battle of undefeated NEWMAC women's tennis teams, No. 16 MIT emerged with a 7-0 win over No. 12 Wellesley College on Saturday afternoon in the J.B. Carr Tennis Bubble.
 
THE BASICS:

• Score: No. 16 MIT 7, No. 12 Wellesley 0
• Records: No. 16 MIT (10-2 Overall, 5-0 NEWMAC); No. 12 Wellesley (13-2 Overall, 5-1 NEWMAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED - DOUBLES:

• In the No. 3 position, sophomores Anastasia Samets (Ocean, N.J.) and Saina Deshpande (Pune, India) cruised to a 6-0 victory over first-year Kriti Sarav (Chicago, Ill.) and sophomore Lily Cade (Minneapolis, Minn.).
• Senior Jay Lu (Austin, Texas) and first-year Chloe Zeng (Austin, Texas) won four straight games, defeating junior Emilee Pak (Chicago, Ill.) and first-year Rianna Mariotti (Forest Hills, N.Y.), 6-2, and capturing the doubles point.
• In the top spot, juniors Alaina Kolli (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) and Artemis Pados (Delray Beach, Fla.) held a 3-1 lead over first-years Sofia Corte-Real (Stamford, Conn.) and Kotistha Modak (Chennai, India). However, the duo from Wellesley tied the match at 3-3. The Engineers went back in front, but both teams traded games as the Blue sent the match into a tiebreaker. The tight play continued with Kolli and Pados taking a 7-6 edge, however, Corte-Real and Modak won the next two points to reclaim the lead. Both teams exchanged points until back-to-back wins gave Wellesley a 7-6 (11-9) victory.

HOW IT HAPPENED - SINGLES:

• Deshpande defeated first-year Sophie Buttorff (Tacoma, Wash.), 6-1, 6-1, in the No. 4 slot.
• Knotted at 3-3 in the first set, Zeng rattled off three consecutive wins against sophomore Suzanne Xu (Boyds, Md.) in the No. 2 position. In the second frame, Zeng built a 4-1 lead en route to a 6-2 result.
• Lu clinched the match by topping Corte-Real, 6-2, 6-1, in the No. 3 spot.
• Kolli notched a 6-3 win against first-year Nandini Patel (Phoenix, Ariz.) in the first set at No. 5 singles. The second set was a back-and-forth affair until back-to-back victories secured a 6-4 decision for Kolli.
• Trailing 4-1, Modak battled back to force a tiebreaker with first-year Fiona Lee (Ladera Ranch, Calif.) in the No. 1 position. Lee gradually built a 6-2 lead, but Modak chipped away at the deficit and eventually went in front on two occasions, the last at 9-8. However, Lee responded by winning the next two points to take the 7-6 (11-9) victory. In the second set, Lee captured three straight games to establish a 5-3 lead. She went on to post a 6-4 win, concluding a match that lasted two hours and 21 minutes.
• Samets provided the final point of the match as she defeated Sarav, 6-2, 6-3, in the No. 6 spot.

UP NEXT:

• MIT will host NEWMAC foe Springfield College on Tuesday, April 15 at 3:30 PM.
• Wellesley will host No. 48 Brandeis University on Sunday, April 13 at 12:00 PM.

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