CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – No. 12 Wellesley College tennis had its winning streak snapped in a 7-0 NEWMAC setback at No. 16 MIT on Saturday. The Engineers are now 10-2 Overall and 5-0 in NEWMAC play this season. The Blue fell to 13-2 Overall and 5-1 in the NEWMAC.
The Engineers started on the right foot by claiming the doubles point with two of three lines. MIT started by shutting out the Blue 6-0 at No. 3 doubles. Sophomores Saina Deshpande (Pune, India) and Anastasia Samets defeated sophomores Lily Cade (Minneapolis, Minn.) and Kriti Sarav (Chicago, Ill.) v (Ocean, N.J).
No. 2 doubles cinched up the point for the hosts, 6-2. The regional No. 3 duo senior Jay Lu (Austin, Texas) and first-year Chloe Zeng (Austin, Texas) took down junior Emilee Pak (Chicago, Ill.) and first-year Rianna Mariotti (Forest Hills, N.Y.)
Wellesley did earn a win at No. 1 doubles, and though not an official point, the Blue showed grit. First-years Kotistha Modak (Chennai, India) and Sofia Corte-Real (Stamford, Conn.) made a statement by hanging tough down the stretch in a 7-6(9) tiebreaker set to top juniors Alaina Kolli (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) and Artemis Pados (Delray Beach, Fla.).
Deshpande made it 2-0 MIT by dispatching first year Sophie Buttorff (Tacoma, Wash.), 6-1, 6-1 at No. 4 singles. Zeng followed closely behind with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Wellesley sophomore Suzanne Xu (Boyds, Md.) at the second spot.
Lu's match served as the four and clinching point for MIT. The senior collected a 6-2, 6-1 win over Corte-Real at No. 3.
Kolli proved a fierce test for first year Nandini Patel (Phoenix, Ariz.), handing out the second singles loss of the season for Patel, 6-3, 6-4 at No. 5 singles.
Modak dropped a tightly contested 7-6(9), 604 bout to No. 18 first-year Fiona Lee (Ladera Ranch, Calif.) at the No. 2 singles spot.
Finally, Samets won a 6-2, 6-3 match over Sarav.Â
Wellesley returns home tomorrow to host Brandeis University in a non-conference match at 12:00 PM. MIT will host Springfield College at 3:30 PM on Tuesday, April 15.
