NORTHAMPTON, Mass. — The fourth-seeded Smith College tennis team will travel to Cambridge on Saturday for a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championship semifinal against top-seeded and No. 10-ranked MIT. First serve is set for noon at the DuPont Tennis Courts.
Smith (9-8, 5-3 NEWMAC) enters the matchup riding a three-match winning streak, capped by Tuesday afternoon's 4-0 victory over No. 5 Springfield College in the conference quarterfinal at the Outdoor Tennis Courts. Ava Emrich (Smyrna, Delaware/Tower Hill School) and Heidi Cambron (Sherbrooke, Canada/Champlain College Lennoxville) opened the day with a 6-1 win at No. 1 doubles, and Ayla Hauser (Knoxville, TN/Bearden) and Natazya Simunyola (Lorton, VA/South County High School) followed with a 6-1 result at No. 2 to clinch the doubles point. Emrich (6-0, 6-1 at No. 1), Simunyola (6-2, 6-0 at No. 2), and Marielle Sauber (The Woodlands, TX/The John Cooper School) (6-0, 6-0 at No. 5) closed out the sweep in straight sets. The Bears, ranked No. 56 by the ITA, have been particularly strong on the road this spring, including February's signature 5-2 upset of then-No. 29 Skidmore and a 4-3 victory over No. 31 Caltech in March.
MIT enters the semifinal at 14-2 overall and a perfect 8-0 in NEWMAC play, having captured the conference's regular-season title with a 4-3 win over No. 7 Babson on April 25. The Engineers' lineup features two ITA top-15 singles players in Saina Deshpande (No. 13) and Fiona Lee (No. 14), as well as regionally ranked doubles pair Alaina Kolli and Artemis Pados. The duo of Anastasia Samets and Katie Driscoll was named NEWMAC Doubles Team of the Week for the third consecutive week on April 26.
The two programs met during the regular season on April 18 at MIT's Senior Day, where the host Engineers — then ranked No. 11 nationally — claimed a 7-0 decision. Smith returns to the same Cambridge courts looking to flip that result in a win-or-go-home format, with Hauser once again anchoring the lineup at the top of the singles ladder.
The winner advances to the NEWMAC Championship final on Sunday, May 3, at MIT, where they will face either No. 2 Babson College or No. 3 Wellesley College.
About Smith Athletics Smith College is a NCAA Division III member of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) that sponsors 11 intercollegiate sports. For more information, log on to GoSmithBears.com and follow the Bears on Facebook and Instagram.
