Anastasia Bryan-Ajania won 6-0, 6-0 at No. 6 singles to help CMS to a semifinal win over Redlands
Anastasia Bryan-Ajania won 6-0, 6-0 at No. 6 singles to help CMS to a semifinal win over Redlands
Posted: May 03, 2019

CMS Women's Tennis Moves on to SCIAC Finals with 5-1 Win over Redlands

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The second-ranked and top-seeded Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's tennis team advanced to the SCIAC Championship match with a 5-1 semifinal win over Redlands on Friday afternoon at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center.

With the win, CMS improves to 22-1 on the season, including 15 in a row since its only loss on March 3 in the championship match of the ITA Indoor Nationals to No. 1 Emory. Redlands falls to 8-12 on the year with the loss. 

The Athenas came out with a 2-1 lead after doubles when Redlands was able to salvage the final point with a tiebreaker win at No. 2. Junior Catherine Allen and sophomore Caroline Cox, the No. 1 ranked doubles team in the nation, remained perfect against Division III competition with an 8-4 win to give CMS its first point. Allen and Cox trailed 2-0 early, but then found their groove and pulled away for the 8-4 win. 

The No. 3 doubles team of freshman Sydney Lee and junior Madison Shea followed suit with another 8-4 win to stretch the lead to 2-0, and the Athenas held a 7-6 lead at No. 2 with a chance to get the sweep, but the Bulldogs were able to rally for the tiebreaker win to cut the lead to 2-1 heading into singles. 

The momentum didn't carry over, as CMS controlled singles from the outset, winning 6-0 first sets at four of the six courts. Junior Anastasia Bryan-Ajania won 6-0, 6-0 at No. 6 for the first singles point to make it a 3-0 lead, while sophomore Rebecca Berger (No. 2), Lee and freshman Sarah Bahsoun (No. 4) all won 6-0 first sets as well. Lee finished off a 6-0, 6-2 win at No. 3 and Bahsoun took hers 6-0, 6-3 at No. 4 to finish off the 5-1 win. 

The victory sets up a rematch with No. 5 Pomona-Pitzer in tomorrow's championship match (1 p.m. at Biszantz Family Tennis Center), which CMS defeated last week in its regular season finale 7-2. The Athenas will be trying for their eighth straight SCIAC Tournament title.