MIT Women's Tennis

On Tuesday, the women's tennis team travelled to Babson for a NEWMAC conference match. Despite threatening skies, the match was completed, with MIT earning a 9-0 sweep and remaining undefeated for the season.

In doubles play, Julie Koo '03 and Jessica Hall '02 simply overpowered their opponents, winning 8-1 at first doubles. Nisha Singh '00 and Yi-Ning Cheng '02 struggled through a match that saw many lead changes and ties. They used grit and determination to grind out a 9-7 victory. The third and fourth doubles teams both won easily. Doana Cecan '00 and Priscilla Cheung '02 won 8-2, as well as Phoebe Wang '02 and Jean Yang '00.

Going into singles, conditions were rough. It looked like the skies were going to open up at any minute, and it was already dark. The Babson courts had no lights, so MIT wanted to play well and claim the victory. They did just that, with Koo and Hall winning their matches without dropping a game (6-0, 6-0) at first and second singles. Cecan had a difficult first set at third singles 7-5, but once she got through it she was in the homestretch, winning the second set 6-0. Singh had no problems at fourth singles, racking up a 6-2, 6-0 win. Fifth and sixth singles were both very competitive. Cheng dropped her first set 6-1 at fifth, but pulled herself together, blanking her opponent 6-0 in the second and winning the third set 6-2. Cheung had the longest match of the day, outlasting her opponent into the dark with a 6-4, 6-4 win. Wang and Yang were unstoppable at seventh and eighth singles. They both won 6-0, 6-0.

Head coach Carol Matsuzaki seemed pleased. "Once again we had a couple of close matches that we managed to pull through. It is important that we stay focused as we go into the heart of our season as well as deeper into the academic year."

MIT travels to Worcester to play Clark University on Saturday in a conference match. They then travel to Maine to play Colby and Bates colleges in a non-conference doubleheader on Sunday.