WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – MIT swept the doubles points and then quickly secured two wins at singles in downing Skidmore College, 5-0, in Saturday's second round of the NCAA tournament hosted by Williams College. With the win, the Engineers (13-7) advance to tomorrow's regional final at 12:00 p.m. against the winner of the Williams College vs. Wilkes University match.
MIT opened the day by posting comfortable wins at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles. The Engineers' number two tandem of sophomore Dora Tzeng and freshman Kelly Zhu defeated Skidmore's Brianna Greene and Caroline Finnegan, 8-1. Over on court three, the Engineers' doubles duo of juniors Wendi Kong and Krystal Lai topped the Thoroughbreds' team of Alexa Goldberg and Laura Swenson, 8-2.
Court one doubles featured the tightest opening round encounter. MIT junior Elysa Kohrs and sophomore Sonya Das opened up a 7-3 lead only to see Skidmore's number one pairing of Madie Benn and Michelle Fuca extend the match by winning the 12th game and narrowing the score to 7-5. However, Kohrs and Das ended the Skidmore comeback bid, winning 8-5, to give the Engineers a 3-0 lead in the match.
Tzeng put MIT on the brink of victory with straight set 6-1, 6-1 decisions over Greene at No. 2 singles. The fifth and final point of the day was delivered by Kohrs at the top of the ladder, who prevailed over Benn, 6-1, 6-1.
