CMS Women's Tennis Shuts Out Southwestern to Remain Unbeaten

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's tennis team swept through singles and doubles as it remained perfect in the early part of the 2020 season, taking a 9-0 win over Southwestern (Texas) on Saturday afternoon at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center.

First-year Justine Leong, sophomore Sarah Bahsoun and junior Caroline Cox each won in both singles and doubles on the day for the Athenas, who improve to 7-0 so far this season (3-0 against Division III competition). Southwestern falls to 3-1 with the loss. 

Doubles saw CMS win 8-2, 8-2, 8-2 across the three lines to take a 3-0 lead into singles. Cox and senior Catherine Allen earned an 8-2 win at No. 1 after jumping out to a 6-0 lead. Leong and sophomore Crystal Juan had a similar dominant effort with an 8-2 win, while Bahsoun and senior Nicole Tan earned an 8-3 win at No. 3. 

First-year Gabby Lee quickly brought CMS on to the verge of a clinch with a 6-0, 6-0 win at No. 6 to make the score 4-0. Soon after, Bahsoun picked up the clinch with a 6-2, 6-1 win at No. 5 to give CMS the 5-0 lead and the team win. 

CMS completed the shutout with four more singles wins. Leong wrapped up a dominant 6-1, 6-2 win at No. 1 over Mary Cardone, who ended last year ranked No. 22 in the nation in Division III. Sophomore Devon Wolfe earned a 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 3, and sophomore Sydney Lee won a long battle at No. 2 to come away with a 7-4, 6-3. 

Cox had the closest competition in singles at No. 4, dropping the first set 6-4 before bouncing back to get the split with a 6-2 win in the second. The tiebreaker was also exceptionally close, but Cox was able to take advantage of the first match point to win 10-8 in the third and help CMS finish with a 9-0 win. 

CMS will be back in action next weekend for the ITA Indoor Nationals, hosted by Centre College in Kentuckt. CMS will open play against the hosts on Friday, before the second round takes place on Saturday and the finals on Sunday.