CMS Women's Tennis Shuts out Redlands, Advances Through to Saturday's SCIAC Finals

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's tennis team swept all three doubles matches, and earned quick wins from Ella Brissett and Nikolina Batoshvili at No. 4 and No. 5 singles as it captured a 5-0 win over Redlands in the SCIAC Semifinals on Friday afternoon at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center.

With the win, the Athenas improve to 21-3 and move on to play at Pomona-Pitzer in tomorrow's championship match at 1 p.m. CMS has suffered two of its three losses this year to the Sagehens, including the ITA Indoor Nationals, and the regular season matchup at Biszantz Family Tennis Center, and will have a chance to turn the tables with the championship trophy on the line tomorrow. 

Batoshvili and Chulani earned the first point of the match with an 8-1 victory at No. 1 doubles, which was quickly followed by an 8-2 win from Devon Wolfe and Sarah Bahsoun at No. 3 doubles. Gabby Lee and Sydney Lee capped the doubles sweep with an 8-4 win at No. 2 to give CMS a 3-0 lead heading into singles. 

CMS won the first sets at all six courts, needing only two to get the clinch and halt the match. Brissett was the first to get the finish line with a 6-1, 6-2 win at No. 4 to put the Athenas ahead 4-0. Batoshvili then got the clincher at No. 5 with a perfect second set on her way to a 6-3, 6-0 win. 

Bahsoun was close to a win at No. 6, where she led 7-5, 6-0. Audrey Yoon had a tight lead in the second set at No. 3 (6-3, 6-2), while Crystal Juan (7-5, 0-1) and Sydney Lee (6-4, 0-1) had just gotten underway in their second sets. 

CMS will be trying to win its ninth straight SCIAC Tournament since it last suffered a defeat to Pomona-Pitzer in 2011. The Athenas won every year from 2012-19, and then have not competed the last two years due to the pandemic.