Tennis Wins Ninth Consecutive Regular Season Championship
In a battle of undefeated conference foes, nationally-ranked No. 22 MIT men's tennis registered a 6-3 win over Wheaton College in the NEWMAC regular-season finale for both squads on Saturday. With the victory, the Engineers (11-5, 5-0 NEWMAC) collected their ninth consecutive regular season conference championship in the NEWMAC's nine-year history.
MIT quickly established a 3-0 lead after sweeping the doubles matches. Thomas H. Dohlman '07 and Eric A. Beren '08 posted an 8-4 decision in the top spot as David E. Iba '09 and Peden P. Nichols '09 outlasted Brian Danishevsky and Raymour Radhakrishnan, 8-5. Said E. Francis '06 and Melvin C. Makhni '07 wrapped up play with an 8-3 victory.
The doubles wins proved to be critical as each side registered a trio of singles victories. Dohlman fell to Payum Payman, 3-6, 7-6, 10-8, in the No. 1 slot while Beren countered with a 6-4, 6-0 win over Danishevsky. In the No. 3 position, Brad Dressler defeated Nichols, 4-6, 7-5, 10-8, as Makhni responded with a 6-3, 6-1 victory. Francis continued the trend with a 7-6, 6-0 decision in the No. 5 spot before Vinith Misra '08 fell, 5-7, 6-0, 10-5.
Both squads earned byes in the opening round of the NEWMAC Tournament which kicks off on Thursday, April 26. MIT will host the semi-final and championship matches beginning at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 28.