CMS Women's Tennis Nearly Perfect on First Day of 2023-24 Season

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The two-time defending national champion Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's tennis team was 10-0 in singles and 6-1 in doubles on the first day of the Sagehen-Athena Invitational on Friday at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center.

CMS primarily competed against Concordia (Irvine) in singles and CSU Northridge and Azusa Pacific in doubles in a tournament format that features schools from all three NCAA Divisions and the NAIA. 

Arushi Malik won two singles matches, picking up a 6-4, 6-1 win against Concordia and a 6-3, 6-0 win against Azusa Pacific. Sena Selby (6-0, 6-2), Lindsay Eisenman (6-2, 6-1), Anna Petrescu (6-1, 6-2), Lily Walther (6-3, 6-0) and Ella Brissett (6-3, 6-1) all had dominant singles wins, dropping four games or less in their two-set victories. 

Audrey Yoon was pushed in the first set before prevailing 7-6, 6-2 after taking a 9-7 win in the first-set tiebreaker. Alisha Chulani and Muduo Zhou both had to come back after dropping their first sets, but both did so in dominant fashion, with Chulani earning a 5-7, 6-2, 10-0 win and Zhou earning a 2-6, 6-0, 10-5 win. 

CMS was mostly dominant in doubles in their matchups against Division I CSU Northridge, with Eisenman and Brissett winning 6-1, while Selby and Katherine Wurster earned a 6-2 win, while Chulani and Yoon were 6-3 winners. Walther and Petrescu were challenged in their match in their Athena debuts, but prevailed 7-5. 

Eisenman and Brissett also won against Azusa Pacific 6-4, improving to 20-0 as doubles partners dating back to last year. Chulani and Yoon earned a 6-3 win, while Selby and Zhou fell 6-3. 

The second day of the Sagehen-Athena Invitational will feature CMS going head-to-head with CSU Northridge, Azusa Pacific, Westmont and Pomona-Pitzer.