MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – Competing at the three-day Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) New England Regional Championship this weekend at Middlebury College,
Fiona Lee led the MIT women's tennis team with a runner-up finish in the singles "A" draw.
Saina Deshpande advanced to the semifinals in the singles "A" draw while
Chloe Zeng and
Carley Chen were semifinalists in the doubles bracket. This was the sixth consecutive ITA regional tournament in which the Engineers had at least one student-athlete earn a spot in the semifinals of a main draw.
HOW IT HAPPENED – Singles "A" Draw:
- In the championship match, top-seeded Matia Cristiani of Babson defeated No. 2 seed Lee, 6-0, 6-2. Lee's performance resulted in her qualifying for the ITA Cup which will be held in Rome, Georgia on October 16-19, 2025.
- Desphande, seeded No. 9-16, fell to Cristiani, 6-3, 6-4, in the semifinals.
- Katie Driscoll was defeated by Cristiani, 6-0, 6-0, in the Round of 16.
- Rayna Li lost to No. 9-16 seed Lara Afolayanka of Wesleyan, 6-2, 6-0 in the Round of 64 and then dropped an 8-7 (7-3) battle to Lulu Wu of Middlebury in her consolation match.
- Seeded No. 9-16, Zeng fell to Ayanna Varma of Williams, 6-1, 6-2, in the Round of 64.
HOW IT HAPPENED – Singles "B" Draw:
- Seeded No. 9-16, Alaina Kolli advanced to the semifinals but was forced to withdraw.
- No. 2 seed Chen fell to No. 9-16 Ren Barton of Middlebury, 5-7, 6-0, 10-8, in the Round of 16.
- Anastasia Samets lost to Rachel Roth of Amherst, 6-0, 5-7, 10-8, in the Round of 64 and then dropped an 8-1 decision to Agnes Guggenheim of Wesleyan in a consolation match.
HOW IT HAPPENED – Doubles:
- Zeng and Chen lost to Afolayanka and Kendall Smith of Wesleyan, 8-4, in the semifinals.
- In the quarterfinals, top-seeded Alaina Kolli and Artemis Pados fell to Afolayanka and Smith by an 8-4 score.
- In the Round of 32, Lee and Driscoll lost to No. 3 seed Cristiani and Sandra Sikharulidze of Babson in an 8-7 (7-5) battle but bounced back to defeat Lila Moldenhauer and Naomi Williams of Bowdoin, 6-1, in a consolation match.
- Deshpande and Samets fell to Anna Lardner and Barton of Middlebury, 8-5, in the Round of 48. Samets went on to play a consolation match with Li, defeating Galia Harmelin and Milana Sofizade of Brandeis, 6-1.
UP NEXT:
- MIT returns to action on Friday, October 10 for the three-day New England Women's Intercollegiate Tennis Tournament that will be hosted by Smith College.
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