CMS Women's Tennis Edges MIT 5-4 to Keep Winning Streak Going

CLAREMONT, Calif. - Jade Haller earned the clinch with a 7-5, 7-5 win at No. 3 singles as the top-ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's tennis team came away with a 5-4 win over No. 17 MIT on Friday at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center, stretching its winning streak to 36 matches.

CMS is now 13-0 on the season, after ending last season with 23 wins in a row en route to its second straight national title. MIT slips to 5-3 on the year with the loss. 

Audrey Yoon and Sena Selby gave CMS a 2-1 lead going into singles with an 8-5 win in doubles, and then picked up the first two points in singles, with Yoon earning a quick 6-0, 6-2 win at No. 2, and Selby earning a 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 3. The Engineers, though, won at both No. 5 and No. 6 to make it 4-3, and took a lead early in the third set at No. 1, putting pressure on Haller to close out her match. 

After Jay Lu, who is ranked No. 45 in the nation in singles, was able to stay alive with a win to make it 5-5 in the second, Haller came through with the next two wins to take it 7-5, 7-5 and give the Athenas the clinch. The Engineers ended up winning the third-set tiebreaker at No. 1 for the final point of the match, making the score 5-1.

Alisha Chulani and Nikolina Batoshvili started off the match with a win at No. 1 doubles, taking it 8-1. Chulani was removed from her projected spot at No. 3 singles after the win, though, which is where Haller came through after moving up a line. 

CMS is scheduled to be back in action tomorrow for a road match at Caltech, although inclement weather this weekend could cause a postponement. The Athenas will next be at home on Friday, when they battle Redlands at 3:30 p.m.