CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — The fourth-seeded Smith College tennis team saw its 2026 season come to a close on Saturday afternoon, falling 4-0 to top-seeded and tenth-ranked MIT in the semifinal round of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championship Tournament at the DuPont Tennis Courts. The Bears finish the year with a 9-9 overall record.
MIT, which entered the day undefeated against NEWMAC competition, jumped out early by claiming the doubles point. The Engineers took No. 1 doubles 6-2 over Ava Emrich (Smyrna, Delaware/Tower Hill School) and Heidi Cambron (Sherbrooke, Canada/Champlain College Lennoxville) before sealing the point with a 6-0 decision at No. 3, where Olivia Chin (Bayside, NY/Dominican Academy) and Emily Wang (Westford, MA/Westford Academy) ran into a sharp Driscoll/Samets duo. The match at No. 2 doubles, featuring Ayla Hauser (Knoxville, TN/Bearden) and Natazya Simunyola (Lorton, VA/South County High School), was abandoned with MIT leading 5-4 once the point had been clinched.
In singles play, the Engineers carried their momentum forward and closed out the dual quickly. Emrich battled at the top spot, taking a 3-3 stretch in the opening set before falling 6-3, 6-1 to Saina Deshpande. At No. 2, Hauser dropped a 6-2, 6-1 decision to Chloe Zeng. Simunyola's match at No. 4 sealed the team result for MIT, with the Engineers' Sophia Yang taking a 6-0, 6-1 win.
With the team result decided, matches at No. 3, No. 5 and No. 6 singles went unfinished. Cambron was locked in a competitive second set against Katie Driscoll, level at 4-4 after dropping the opener 6-2, when play was halted. The bottom of the lineup, featuring Marielle Sauber (The Woodlands, TX/The John Cooper School) at No. 5 and Wang at No. 6, did not get on court.
The Bears wrap a 2026 campaign that included a 4-0 quarterfinal sweep of Springfield to advance to the conference semifinals, with the program returning a deep core of contributors as it looks toward 2027.
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.
