CAMBRIDGE, MA (September 15, 2023) -- The Tufts University women's tennis team got the 2023-24 campaign underway on Friday afternoon, competing in the first day of action in the 2023 MIT Invitational in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Jumbos saw a pair of singles competitors advance in the main draw to Saturday's quarterfinals, while the pair of
Zoe Kava and
Rebecca Lim stayed alive in the title draw of the doubles' flight.
In singles, on the top part of the bracket
Sophie Wax posted a 6-3, 6-2 win over Alaina Kolli of MIT to move into the second round against Cara Hung of Bowdoin College. Wax would fall in three sets in a thriller, winning the first set 6-2 before dropping the second 6-1 and the super-tiebreaker 10-3. Kava was the 5-8 seed in the middle of the singles' flight and captured a second-round 7-6 (3), 6-1 win over Amherst College's Maddie Swire to move into Saturday's quarterfinal against Hung at 9:00 a.m.
First-year
Natalie Hu came out of the gates fast, posting a 6-1, 6-1 win over Mia Kintiroglou of Amherst before besting seeded Nishi Gandra 6-2, 6-7(4), 10-3 to move into the quarterfinals.
Rachel Cranley was seeded No. 4 in that bracket, and knocked off Artemis Pados 6-1, 6-2 before having to withdrawal in the second round. Lim earned a first-round win over her opponent from Bowdoin 6-2, 6-1, but was topped by Jay Lu 6-2, 6-2 in the second round.
The consolation singles bracket saw
Nikki Kintiroglou knock off Kaya Amin 6-0, 6-3, while
Stephanie Woodbury also earned a 4-6, 6-0, 10-6 marathon win to move into Saturday's quarterfinals.
In doubles play, Kava and Lim moved out of the bottom of the bracket and into the semifinals after earning a 8-3 win in the first round over MIT. The pairing followed that up with an 8-7 win over No. 2 seed Hung and Sun of Bowdoin. The pair will take on Amy Cui and Swire of Amherst Saturday at 1 p.m. Cranley and Wax ton their first round outing 8-4 over Amherst, but was bested by Gandra and Saina Deshpande of MIT 8-4 in the quarterfinals.
In the consolation bracket, Hu and Woodbury teamed up to post an 8-3 win to advance to the semifinals Saturday, while Julian and Kintiroglou rolled into the semifinals as well with an 8-1 triumph over Thorne and Stuhlfaut of Bowdoin.
Action resumes on Saturday at 9 a.m. inside on the MIT bubble.
--JUMBOS--
