Leslie Hansen Makes MIT History in Finals Of ITA Championship
The MIT Women’s Tennis Team started off a busy week by making history at the ITA New England Championships this weekend and went on to defeat Babson College 7-2 on Tuesday. Leslie A. Hansen ’10 is the first player in MIT women’s tennis history to be a singles finalist. Hansen blazed through the draw until she reached the semifinals, which any team member who witnessed the match would describe only as “simply amazing.” Hansen won in three sets with a score of 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4). Hansen then lost a tough match with a score of 5-7, 0-6 in the finals.
Earlier in the tournament, Melissa A. Diskin ’11 played the number one seed in the first round. She lost 6-0, 6-0, but enjoyed the match. Anastasia Vishnevetsky ’12 also lost her first round match with a score of 6-2, 6-1. In the doubles draw, Diskin and Anisa K. McCree ’10 lost their first match with a score of 8-1.
The doubles team of Hansen and Vishnevetsky won their first doubles match 8-1. In the next round, the team faced a hard match against a team from Wheaton College. The score was close, and the lead changed sides as quickly as the ball crossing over the net, but in the end Hansen and Vishnevetsky lost the match with an 8-6 score.
On Tuesday, MIT Women’s Tennis played Babson College. First off were the doubles matches. The team of Karina N. Pikhart ’09 and Yi Wang ’09 was one of the first up, and won 8-3. They were followed by the team of Diskin and McCree who lost a hard fought match 8-1. These matches brought the overall score with Babson to 1-1.
Next up was the exhibition match, with the team of Alexandria C. Hall ’12 and Hillary E. Jenny ’12 pulling out a close match with a win of 8-6. Leslie Hansen ’10 and Anastasia Vishnevetsky ’12 played a tough match and pulled out a victory with a very close score of 9-8(6). This gave MIT a lead of 2-1 over Babson going into the singles matches.
It began to rain in the middle of the singles matches, forcing play to move indoors. Hansen finished her opponent off quickly with a score of 6-0, 6-1. She was soon followed by Diskin who lost a close match.
The points that Diskin played would start well before the those in the neighboring match and last until long after they were finished. In the end, Diskin lost with a score of 6-2, 6-1. Next off was Wang, who pulled out a tough match and won in the tie breaker of the second set with a score of 6-2, 7-6(1). MIT was now in the lead over Babson 4-2. McCree then quickly finished off her opponent with a decisive score of 6-2, 6-3.
The next three matches were all extremely close and had to be decided in the third sets. Vishnevetsky won her match with a score of 7-6(6), 2-6, 6-0, finishing strong. Hall finished next, after losing her first set she came back to win her extremely close match: 3-6, 7-6(2), 7-5. Next up was Pikhart, who barely lost her first set and came back to take the next two, winning 4-6, 6-2, 6-4. Jenny was the last player on the courts, but she finished the job quickly and decisively with a score of 6-0, 6-2. The end result was MIT 7, Babson 2.