CMS Women's Tennis Defeats Sewanee, Bowdoin by 7-2 Scores

CLAREMONT, Calif. – The second-ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's tennis team hosted a pair of nationally ranked opponents on Thursday at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center, and earned a pair of 7-2 wins, defeating No. 10 Sewanee and No. 16 Bowdoin.

With the wins, CMS improves to 8-1 on the year, and remains unbeaten outside, with the only loss coming to No. 1 Chicago at the ITA Indoor Championships. The Athenas have lost an outdoor dual only once in the last three seasons of competition (43-1), which they avenged last year by defeating Pomona-Pitzer in the SCIAC Championship match.

Against Sewanee, the Athenas took a 2-1 lead after doubles, with Katherine Wurster and Sena Selby taking the swing point at No. 2 by an 8-6 score. Nikolina Batoshvili and Alisha Chulani picked up the first point of the match with an 8-5 win at No. 1.

Singles saw CMS take a 3-1 lead when Lindsay Eisenman earned a 6-1, 6-2 victory at No. 5. Chulani and Batoshvili then provided the clinch with wins within moments of each other, as Chulani got the finish line first for a 6-3, 6-3 win at No. 1, and Batoshvili following one point later for the team clinch with a 6-2, 7-5 win at No. 4. Batoshvili was down 5-3 in the second, but responded with four straight wins to close it out.

The Athenas added two more wins in tight matches, as Sena Selby regrouped for a three-set win at No. 4, taking it 6-4, 0-6, 6-2. Ella Brissett then bounced back after dropping a second-set tiebreaker for a 6-4, 6-7, 11-9 win, taking the last three points of the third-set tiebreaker for the win. Match point featured a difficult defensive get in the corner in which she hit a lob that fell right on the sideline to stay in it.

CMS fell behind 2-1 to Bowdoin after doubles, but came out on fire in singles, quickly winning first sets on all six courts, three by 6-0 scores and three by 6-2. Chulani finished off the first win for the Athenas, taking a 6-0, 6-1 at No. 1, and Brissett (6-0, 6-2 at No. 4) and Eisenman (6-2, 6-1 at No. 6) finished their matches within moments of each other to make it a 4-2 lead.

The final point looked like it might take some work, as CMS trailed in the second set on the other three courts. Audrey Yoon, though, who won the first set 6-0, was able to find her groove again and close out the match, and the team win, with a 6-0, 6-3 victory at No. 3.  

Yoon's win took the pressure off the other two courts, where Wurster and Batoshvili were both pushed into a third set.  Batoshvili played an extended tiebreaker for her third set and prevailed 6-2, 3-6, 10-7, while Wurster played a full third set in hers and came away with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 win.

CMS will be back in action on Friday when it hosts Division I Santa Clara for a 12 p.m. contest.