MIT edges Babson, 5-4
Engineers continue 5-game winning streak
Sarah Liu—The Tech
In a New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) battle of undefeated women’s tennis teams, MIT came from behind to edge Babson College, 5-4, keeping its win streak intact at five to start the season. Babson, which had taken a 2-1 advantage after doubles, saw its seven-match win streak snapped.
Babson (7-1, 3-1 NEWMAC) picked up the first point of the day when its No. 3 doubles team of freshmen Kylie Kam and Jenny Quenard took an 8-2 win. MIT (5-0, 5-0 NEWMAC) came back to even the match when its No. 2 pairing of Michelle M. Dutt ’15 and Sonya A. Das ’18 took an 8-4 decision. The Beavers then took a 2-1 lead into singles play in a closely contested match at No. 1 where senior Alex Freeman and freshman Yagmur Akgul defeated Elysa M. Kohrs ’17 and Victoria Tam ’17, 8-6.
Trailing by one, MIT came back in singles play with the first two decisions to take its first lead of the match. Cindy R. Liu ’18 evened things up for the Engineers by taking a 6-3, 6-1 win over senior Alexis Ferraro before Dora R. Tzeng ’18 gave MIT its first lead of the day, taking a 6-1, 6-4 decision over freshman Claire Foster.
Babson came back to retake the lead when Akgul took her No. 2 match over Tam by a final of 6-3, 6-4. MIT then came up with back-to-back victories to put the hard fought match in the win column for the Engineers. At No. 4 Wendi J. Kong ’17 took a 7-5, 6-4 win over junior Tori Paolino. Das then scored the match-clinching point for MIT at No. 3 with a 6-4, 7-5 triumph over Quenard. The last match to be decided came at No. 1, which turned out to be the only singles contest to go three sets. In the battle between Kohrs and Freeman, it was Kohrs that took the first set, 6-3, before Freeman came back to take the final two sets and the match, 7-5, 10-6.
Both teams will take a break from NEWMAC play this weekend to play at the ITA New England Championships. Play in the tournament, which is being hosted by Williams College, begins on Friday and wraps up on Sunday.