MIT Women's Tennis

Roster: Shima Rayej '04, Julie Koo '03, Larissa Egloff '04, Caroline Tien '04, Jessica A. Hall '02, Jaclyn Cichon '05, Vanessa Selbst'05, Ann Hsing '02, Jen Lee '03

The women's 2002 Spring Tennis season is about to come to a close, after a season filled with memorable wins and marginal defeats. Over the course of the past two weeks, they have had to face Bates, Trinity, Bowdoin, and Brandeis- 4 reputable teams with tough players and a deep line up.

First up that weekend was Bates College. The Bobcats were no match for these women Beavers though, with MIT sweeping them away 9-0. The doubles matches were swiftly won, with the teams of Koo/Egloff and Hsing/Rayej both winning 8-4 while alongside them, Hall/Tien pummeled their opponents away 8-1.

In a similar fashion, Bates proved to be not up to par with the way MIT was playing. Rayej used her two-handed forehand to win 6-1, 6-1. Koo also won easily, 6-2, 6-0, using a fine combination of power and touch. Despite a tough first set, Egloff kicked it up a notch in the second set to win 7-6, 6-1. Likewise, Tien won 6-4, 6-1. On the next court, long patient rallies were exchanged with Hall ultimately winning 6-4, 6-4. Cichon stepped up to the challenge to win 6-4, 6-2 and Selbst easily put her opponent away 6-2, 6-2.

Then along came Trinity College and the women beavers saw they had met their match, but they did not give in easily, with half of the singles matches going into three sets. The ultimate score was 4-5, but it could've gone the other way by just a handful of points. Doubles started off on an optimistic note, with Koo/Egloff winning 8-4. Despite well placed shots and power, Hsing/Rayej lost 8-6. Hall/Tien won 8-5 in a tight match that involved the highest amount of focus and patience.

Singles proved to be a tougher battle. Rayej was up 6-1, 3-2, and then her opponent was intimidated into retiring. Koo was relentless and won 6-2, 6-0. Egloff fought hard, but lost narrowly 6-1, 0-6, 0-2. Similarly, Tien lost in three sets 6-4, 2-6, 3-6. Despite Hall's unremitting patience, she lost 3-6, 4-6. Cichon put up a strong fight, but also lost 6-1, 3-6, 3-6. Hsing and Lee both were relentless, but also lost.

After two tough matches, MIT went on to face Bowdoin the next morning, and despite having the shots, the power, and the focus, they didn't have the energy and were defeated 3-6. Again, doubles started out well, with Koo/Egloff winning 8-4 and though Hsing/Rayej lost 6-8, Hall/Tien won 5 games in a row from being down 4-7 to win 9-7. On the next court, Cichon/Selbst won 8-4.

MIT didn't fare quite as well in singles though, with the only win coming from Cichon who fought hard to the end and won 1-6, 6-4, 7-5.

They walked off the courts that weekend with their heads held high though, because they knew that they had tried their hardest. Carol Matsuzaki, the coach for the women's team, was equally proud of them. "I am really proud of the way we competed this past weekend. We have really made significant improvements in a lot of areas since the Fall of 2001.This weekend's experience can only make us better for the future."

A week later though, the MIT women's team was back and re-energized. Despite the variable weather conditions that evening, they put it all together to win 7-2 against Brandeis. Though the doubles matches were tight, MIT managed to emerge as the ultimate victor with Koo/Egloff winning 8-6. Fighting hard the entire time, Hsing/Rayej lost 4-8, but Hall/Tien came back from a 0-3 start to win 8-5.

In singles, Rayej lost 5-7, 2-6, and Koo won 6-4, 6-1. Egloff easily ran her opponent off the court to win 6-1, 6-1 and Tien never let up the momentum to win in three sets. Hall again used her persistence and patience to win 7-6, 6-2 as did Cichon who won 7-5, 6-1. Selbst blew her opponent away with a win of 8-1.

The MIT Women's Tennis team has come a long way since last season, and their coach agrees that they have "clearly improved in several departments: Doubles, patience in working the points, and the POSITIVE ATTITUDE. It's so great to see the improvements be effective in match play."

These tough lady beavers will travel to upstate New York this weekend, for the last match of their main season, to battle it out against Skidmore College, and they will, hopefully, emerge victorious.