CLAREMONT, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's tennis team opened its 2026-27 season at the CMS/Pomona-Pitzer Invitational on Friday and Saturday at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center, and had an impressive showing against a field of mostly Division I and Division II programs. 

CMS had a combined 23-3 record in singles matches against CSU Northridge, Concordia Irvine, Azusa Pacific, and Westmont, with the only losses coming to Division I CSU Northridge. The Athenas also had some dramatic wins against the Matadors, with Rachel Garton taking a straight set victory 6-1, 7-5, Leah Baroudi earning a third-set tiebreaker for a 1-6, 6-3, 11-9 comeback win, and Bell Zhou earning a three-set 6-2, 1-6, 10-7 win. Anika Malik also came back after dropping the first set to win 7-5, 10-6 in her final two sets to get the victory in a match against CSUN, while Alexandra Dewey earned a 6-3, 6-4 win. 

Garton ended the day with a 6-0, 6-0 win against APU, a 6-3, 6-1 win against Concordia, and the 6-1, 7-5 win over CSUN to go 3-0 in singles. Dewey and Malik were also 3-0 in their debuts, while Emily Gao had two 6-0, 6-0 wins in singles against Concordia and APU, before suffering her lone full-match blemish 10-8 in a third-set tiebreaker to CSU Northridge. Zhou and Baroudi were 3-0 after pulling out their three-setters against the Matadors. 

The Athenas also had a 10-5 record in doubles, including taking both matches against Pomona-Pitzer, with Rebecca Kong and Zhou winning 6-2 and Baroudi and Ananya Sriniketh winning 6-0. Georgia Garrett and Dewey picked up a 7-5 doubles win against CSU Northridge. 

CMS will be back in action in two weeks when it serves as the host for the ITA West Regionals. CMS will also host the NCAA Division III Championships this spring for the second time in the last three years.