On March 28, #2 nationally ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS) Women’s Tennis dealt another ace to continue their hot streak for the season. The Athenas hosted the University of Wisconsin Whitewater at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center, ultimately waltzing to a 7-0 victory.
CMS has been wildly successful this season, winning 11 out of 12 competitions so far. This success continues a years-long pattern; the team won national championships in 2022 and 2023 and finished 21-2 overall in 2024.
At last Friday’s game, CMS took two out of the three matches in the doubles round, with wins coming from Lindsay Eisenman CM ’26 and Emily Ing HM ’28 (6-0) and Muduo Zhou HM ’27 and Celestina Cedillo CM ’28 (6-1). In the other match, Alisha Chulani HM ’25 and Rebecca Kong HM ’28 battled hard before eventually falling (4-6).
Despite her tough match, Kong said that the Athenas worked together consistently throughout, something that contributed to their overall success.
“We kind of work off each other,” Kong said. “I didn’t perform the best, but I know I could rely on my teammates.”
Friday’s game was the first time that CMS faced off against UW-Whitewater, but the Athenas did not allow unfamiliarity to keep them from bringing their best to the court.
“This is our first time playing this team, so we didn’t have the luxury of knowing any of the players or having a scouting report,” Ella Brissett CM ’25 said. “I’m proud of how everybody just went out and competed as if it might have been a familiar team.”
Chulani added that the team performed well even after an intense series of matches the week before.
“We’re coming off a slew of very difficult matches of a lot of ranked teams over spring break, so our bodies are definitely right in the thick of season,” she said. “It was nice to have a match in the morning on Friday, nice weather out, and just really meet our level and perform well.”
The singles round ended in a total shutout of UW-Whitewater, with CMS winning all six matches.
Wins came from anywhere and everywhere in the singles period, with CMS winning every singles match without going to a third set.
The biggest win of the day came from Zhou, who shut out her opponent (6-0, 6-0). Ing and Brisett similarly coasted to victories in their matches (6-0, 6-1 and 6-3, 6-0, respectively). Other wins came from Cedillo (6-3, 6-1) and Kong (6-0, 6-2).
The closest game of the day was the final set between Eisenman and UW-Whitewater athlete Gracie Ha. The set continued long after the other matches had already been decided. After an intense, drawn-out fight, Eisenman prevailed (6-1, 7-5).
For Chulani, success on the day and the overall season comes from the rigor in each practice.
“Every time we’re at practice, we run for every ball, every single point,” Chulani said. “Every single ball counts, not only in the matches, but also in practice, and I think that’s the kind of mindset that really helps us be successful.”
After this rout, CMS has continued to fly high in their season. Two 6-1 victories against Caltech and Redlands have since improved the Athenas’ record to 12-1, with their sole loss coming on March 2 to #1 ranked UChicago.
Looking to the future, the Athenas will host Occidental College on April 5 as they continue their SCIAC march. Further matches at Cal Lutheran and Chapman follow on April 11 and 19, respectively, before the team concludes their season with a Sixth Street showdown against the #5 nationally ranked Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens.
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