CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Tied at 3-3,
Chloe Zeng's three-set victory at No. 2 singles clinched the match for No. 7 MIT as it defeated No. 16 Amherst College, 4-3, in a non-conference women's tennis match on Saturday afternoon at the DuPont Tennis Courts.
THE BASICS:
- Score: No. 7 MIT 4, No. 16 Amherst 3
- Records: No. 7 MIT (11-2 Overall); No. 16 Amherst (7-4 Overall)
HOW IT HAPPENED - DOUBLES:
- Trailing 4-1 to Greta Stechschulte and Sophie Diop in the No. 3 position, Katie Driscoll and Anastasia Samets battled back to even the match at 4-4. However, Stechschulte and Diop claimed the next two games to hold on for the victory.
- At the top spot, Alaina Kolli and Artemis Pados raced out to a 4-0 lead against Lily Dounchis and Cody Huang. Amherst won the next three games; however, Kolli and Pados increased their slim margin to 5-3. Dounchis and Huang extended the match by picking up the next game, but MIT thwarted the comeback attempt by taking what proved to be the final game of the match.
- Carley Chen and Zeng gradually established a 4-2 lead against Tina She and Karolina Dobiecka, but the Mammoths knotted the match at 4-4. Chen and Zeng broke She and Dobiecka to go in front, however, the Amherst duo rattled off three straight victories to post a 7-5 decision and capture the doubles point.
HOW IT HAPPENED - SINGLES:
- In the No. 3 slot, Huang defeated Driscoll, 6-1, 6-1.
- Sophia Yang registered the Engineers' first point of the day courtesy of a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Stechschulte in the No. 4 position.
- In a tightly played opening set at No. 5 singles, back-to-back wins gave Chen a 6-4 victory against Sameera Talwar. Tied at 3-3 in the second set, Chen won three consecutive games to secure the victory.
- Rayna Li gave MIT a 3-2 lead following her 6-2, 1-6, 6-2 win over Rachel Roth in the No. 6 spot.
- At the top of the ladder, Saina Deshpande defeated She, 6-2, in the first set but lost 6-0 in the second. Facing a 4-1 deficit in the third set, Deshpande produced back-to-back wins, however, She went on to post a 6-3 victory.
- In the No. 2 position against Diop, Zeng won the last two games to take the opening set, 6-3. Zeng established a 4-1 lead in the second set, but Diop rattled off four consecutive victories to go in front. Both players went on to trade games, forcing the tiebreaker which Diop rallied to win, 9-7. Zeng bounced back with a 6-0 decision in the third set, clinching the match for the Engineers.
UP NEXT:
- MIT resumes NEWMAC play on Tuesday, April 14 when it hosts Salve Regina University at 3:30 PM.
- Amherst will visit NESCAC rival Bates College on Sunday, April 12 at 1:00 PM.
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