Written by Ben Lable, Athletic Communications student
MEDFORD, MA (March 12, 2025) - Fresh off a dominant 7-0 victory at Bates College last Friday, the No. 14 Tufts University women's tennis team put its undefeated record on the line against No. 12 MIT on Wednesday afternoon in Medford. The Jumbos aimed to snap a three-match losing streak against the Engineers, dating back to the 2017-18 season.
In the first match of the day, No. 1 doubles' pair
Stephanie Woodbury and
Natalie Hu claimed a dominant 6-0 victory over MIT's Alaina Kolli and Artemis Pados to give the Jumbos an early lead.
The Doubles 2 match saw a dramatic comeback attempt from
Rachel Cranley and
Lucy Mitchell (Tufts). After trailing 5-2, the pair fought back to level the score 6-6. However, MIT's Jay Lu and Chloe Zeng held their ground in a tiebreak, securing a 7-6 win.
The match's first point came down to No. 3 doubles, where freshmen
Brooklyn Bindas and
Melanie Woodbury built an early 4-1 lead before MIT's Anastasia Samets and Saina Deshpande forced a tiebreak. Tufts trailed 6-4 in the tiebreak but saved two match points, rallying for an 8-6 tiebreak win to secure the 7-6 victory and the first point for the Jumbos.
Leading 1-0 in the match it was time to start the singles portion of the evening. Fresh off her massive doubles victory, No. 1
Melanie Woodbury (Tufts) faced off against Zang narrowly losing 3-6, 6-7.
Ellie Gershaw defeated Lu 6-3, 7-5 in a hard-fought No. 2 singles' match. After winning the first set comfortably, Gershaw found herself down 4-5 in the second but rallied to win three straight games and close out the match.
Mitchell faced off against Kolli in a thrilling three-set battle, ultimately winning 1-6, 7-6, 6-2. After a slow start in the first set, Mitchell fought back in a tense second-set tiebreak before dominating the third and giving the team an overall 3-1 lead.
In a battle that took over two and a half hours, Tufts'
Athena Li faced off against Deshpande, ultimately falling 3-6, 6-2, 6-7. Li fought back from a 2-5 deficit in the final set to force a tiebreak, but Deshpande managed to hold on for the win. Despite the loss, Li showed tremendous resilience and determination throughout the match.
At No. 5,
Natalie Hu of Tufts delivered a dominant performance, defeating Samets in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2. With this decisive victory, Hu clinched the match and secured the Jumbos' triumph.
The final match of the evening saw No. 6 Nicole Kintiroglou against Megan Sun in a tightly contested showdown. Sun edged out the first set in a tiebreak, 7-6, but Kintiroglou fought back to take the second set 6-4. In the decisive third-set ten point tiebreak, Kintiroglou held her nerve winning 10-6 giving the Jumbos their fifth point of the night.
An all around strong performance from the Tufts University women's tennis team beating No. 12 MIT with an overall score of 5-2. The win keeps the Jumbos undefeated this season, as they extend their record to a perfect 6-0.
On Saturday, Tufts will return to its home courts at 11:00 a.m. to take on No. 16 Williams College, seeking redemption against the team that eliminated them in last year's NESCAC Championship quarterfinals.
--JUMBOS--
