CAMBRIDGE - The No. 4 seeded Smith College tennis team fell to the top seed MIT, 5-0, in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) semifinals on Saturday afternoon. Smith finishes their season at 12-6 and the Engineers will play for the NEWMAC Championship on Sunday.

Match Highlights

• To start the day, Smith battled through doubles but were unable to stop MIT from jumping ahead 3-0 going into singles play. The closest doubles match was in the number one position where Lili and Clara Goshgarian (Lake Forest, IL/Lake Forest) got off to a strong start. After dropping the first game, they leveled up their intensity to win the next three games going up 3-1. The number one duo from MIT, Alaina Kolli and Artemis Pados, looked to disrupt play by slowing things down. he Goshgarians adjusted well, maintaining their lead to stay ahead 4-3. At this point, the MIT team locked in and won the next 5 games, securing the doubles sweep for MIT. 
• In singles play, MIT was able to secure two more points to clinch the match. The first win came in the number two position, where Kim Liao of MIT won 6-2, 6-1 over Clara Goshgarian (Lake Forest, IL/Lake Forest). The second win came in the number four position where Saina Deshpande of MIT was able to prevent Aranne Jung (Los Angeles, CA/North Hollywood) from earning a single game, the first opponent to do so all season for the first year who has had an incredible rookie season, securing a 7-3 record against conference opponents. 
• In the number one singles position, Ayla Hauser (Knoxville, TN/Bearden) took on Katya Shepherd Johnson of MIT who is currently ranked #16 in the country by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) and 5th in our region by the NCAA. Although the match went unfinished, the rookie from Smith played an incredible set of tennis. Hauser jumped out to a quick 4-1 lead. Shepherd Johnson started to battle back. At 6-5, Hauser had a set point with Shepherd Johnson serving. The pair played a great point, with Shepherd Johnson forcing a tie-break with a backhand down the line that clipped both lines. The match could not have ended any closer, at 3-3 in the tie-break, MIT secured their 5th point, ending what was a very close match between these two student-athletes. 

About Smith Athletics: Smith College is a NCAA Division III member of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference that sponsors 11 intercollegiate sports. For more information log on to smithpioneers.com and follow us on Facebook and Instagram.