Sunday, October 11, 2015

MIT is Number One in Conference For Good Reason


There were definite highlights in the dual match of Smith vs MIT on October 10, at the home of the Engineers, but you will have to look beyond the overall score (0-9) to appreciate Smith's effort against the top team in the conference.    MIT has retained the top status in the NEWMAC conference for good reason.  The players are experienced competitors and the team is deep.   Smith players set their goals to take control of what they could and what they achieved was their best doubles of the season on all three doubles courts. Janan Fugel and Morgan Barney, number 3 doubles for Smith had the best performance staying up with Ava Soleiman and Iris Zhuang early before the Engineers' pulled away with an 8-4 victory.

Behind 0-3 at the start of singles, the Pioneers seemed focused and undeterred and they played with determination.  Noa Dubin has found no easy matches at the number 1 position this season and this day was no exception.  Kohrs, the talented junior from MIT dominated the match from the beginning giving up relatively no unforced errors and claiming the victory 6-0, 6-0.  Margaret Anne Smith at number 2 gave her best analyzing ways to handle the underhand  spin serve that Dora Tzeng delivered but that was not enough as Margaret Anne was able to only claim one game.  Janan Fugel at 4 singles collected good points but had trouble stringing them together for the scoreboard and bowed 1-6, 0-6.  Joanna Kim found herself having to borrow a racket for her singles play after breaking her strings in her other rackets.  She used no excuses and although losing, she gave all that she had that day.  At No. 5, Barney stayed close to sophomore Rena Liu early on only to see Liu pull away to take a 6-4, 6-1 win. Samantha Peikes gave her best effort staying on court the longest but Sonya Das finished things up at No. 3, taking a 6-3, 6-2 win. Sam kept the rallies going and attacked whenever possible.  Her match was competitive and very respectable and a testament to her hard work in preparation for the match was well as her belief in her game.


Overall Smith showed their fighting spirit and their high level of sportsmanship.  The team has gained momentum this season and is looking to the NEWITT doubles championship at Smith October 16-18.