Sports Shorts
Lightweights Send Three Boats To the Head of the Charles
Men’s Lightweight Crew raced in three events at the 45th running of the Head of the Charles last weekend. In the Club 8+ event on Saturday, the freshmen lightweight squad powered their way to 16th position out of the field of 46 in a time of 16:19.491. The squad was led by coxswain Henry G. Skupniewicz ’13, followed from stroke to bow by Zachary C. Segal ’13, James E. Byron ’13, Samuel F. Simmons ’13, Cameron S. McAlpine ’13, John R. DiMino ’13, Stephen A. Freiberg ’13, Samuel T, Reineman ’13, and Devin A. Cela ’13.
In blustery, snowy conditions, the varsity contingent took to the water on Sunday first in the Lightweight Fours event where Tech finished in 10th place overall and sixth among collegiate crews with a time of 19:01.671. The boat was driven by coxswain Diana T. Wu ’11, and rowed by stroke Michael K. Lo ’12, Justus M. Kebschull ’11, and Erick W. Fuentes ’11. In the Lightweight Eight competition, MIT put together its first varsity lineup of the year with coxswain Emily C Shao ’11, stroke Richard A. Suarez ’11, followed by Ryan A. Flynn ’10, Nicholas B. Murlo ’10, Aaron M. Blankstein ’10, Daniel H. Fourie ’12, Jacob Brubert ’11, Jameson W. Nash ’11, and Keith T. Loebner ’11. The Cardinal and Gray raced in a time of 16:36.283 to capture 17th place.
Next up for MIT is the Princeton Three-Mile Chase in Princeton, N.J. on Sunday, October 25.
—Mindy Brauer, DAPER Staff
Women’s Tennis Closes Regular Season with 2-7 Loss to Babson
Women’s Tennis fell to Babson College on Tuesday, 7-2. With the loss, the Engineers wrap up their season with a 3-5 record (3-4 NEWMAC) and enter this weekend’s Conference Tournament as the number six seed.
All three doubles matches were decided by just two games, with Babson taking two of the three for an early 2-1 lead. First doubles pair Anastasia Vishnevetsky ’12 and Alexandria C. Hall ‘12 gave MIT its first point, winning 8-6.
Babson dominated in the singles matches, winning five of the six matches. Vishnevetsky again provided the lone victory, defeating her opponent 6-3, 7-6 (5).
The Engineers will host third-seeded Babson in a rematch of Tuesday in the first round of the NEWMAC Tournament. The match starts Saturday at 11 a.m. on the duPont Courts.
—David Zhu, Sports Editor
Volleyball Fights Off Babson, 3-0
The MIT women’s volleyball defeated formidable New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) foe Babson College, 25-14, 26-24, 25-20, on Tuesday night. With the win, the Engineers improved to 22-5 on the year and 7-0 in conference action while the Beavers dipped to 12-10 overall and 4-3 in the NEWMAC.
MIT established a 10-5 lead in the opening frame, and mounted a 14-4 run to take control of the game. Babson capitalized on three straight errors by the Engineers to extend the frame, but a strike from Jennifer Li ’11 secured the first set victory.
Babson inched out to a 4-1 edge and maintained a small cushion for most of the second stanza. MIT slowly chipped away at the deficit as a block by Cecily L. Joujon-Roche ’12 evened the game at 13. The Engineers recorded the next five points for their first lead of the set. Babson stayed within striking distance, registering four consecutive points to tie the score at 21. The Engineers wrapped up the frame on a strike from Alexandra T. May ’10 and a block by Joujon-Roche and Li.
Babson opened the third set with seven unanswered points and went on to hold a 17-13 advantage. MIT’s senior class responded with six straight points to capture the lead. Barden A. Cleeland ’10 ignited the spurt with a pair of kills and then collaborated with May on a block that evened the frame at 17. Catherine Melnikow ’10’s solid serving throughout the rally yielded all three of her aces. Each side traded points as Babson stayed alive until Li recorded her third set point of the night.
May posted a double-double on 13 kills and 13 digs as Cleeland notched 10 kills and three blocks. Joujon-Roche registered nine kills and five blocks while Li racked up five kills and five blocks. In addition to her timely trio of aces, Melnikow added seven digs. Alyssa L. Rothman ’13 tallied 38 assists and three aces as Katie K. Spielbauer ’13 and Anna D. Dikina ’11 rounded out the defense with eight and six digs, respectively.
Next up for MIT will be the Hall of Fame Tournament held Oct. 23-24.
—Mindy Brauer, DAPER Staff