Springfield, Mass. - September 11, 2016 - The Springfield College women's tennis program fell to nationally-ranked MIT, 9-0, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play on Sunday afternoon at the Appleton Courts.
With the loss, the Pride falls to 0-3 to begin the year, while MIT, which was ranked No. 17 in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Rankings, improves to 3-0 on the year.
Senior Rachel London (Port Jefferson, N.Y.) and sophomore Melissa Parrish (Framingham, Mass.) fell in the No. 1 doubles slot, 8-1, to Dora Tzeng (Freemont, Calif.) and Sonya Das (Arden Hills, Minn.), before first-year Rebecca Link (Norwalk, Conn.) and Stephanie Foster (Woodbridge, Conn.) fell to Kelly Zhu (Pearland, Tex.) and Lara Rakocevic (Portland, Ore.), 8-2, in the No. 2 doubles slot. The Engineers' Rena Liu (Oak Hill, Va.) and Serena Le (Aiea, Hawaii) bested Rachel Litchfield (Northbridge, Mass.) and Nicole Piazza (Portland, Conn.), 8-2, at No. 3 doubles to give MIT a 3-0 lead heading into singles play.
Playing at No. 1 singles as a sophomore, Parrish fell to Tzeng, 6-2, 6-3, before Litchfield fell to Zhu, 6-2, 6-1 in the No. 2 slot. At No. 3 singles, Link fell to Das, 6-1, 6-3, while at No. 4, Emily Etter (Guilford, Conn.) was beat by Rakocevic, 6-0, 6-2. Wrapping up in the No. 5 singles slot, Piazza fell to Liu, 6-1, 6-0, while Kelsey Whelpley (Mastic Beach, N.Y.) fell at No. 6 singles to Effie Jia (San Ramon, Calif.), 6-2, 6-0.
Up next, Springfield College will travel to Eastern Nazarene for a non-conference match on Thursday, before returning to the Appleton Courts to host NEWMAC-foe Emerson on Saturday at 1 p.m.
