The MIT women’s tennis team kicked off its spring campaign with an 8-1 victory over Bates College on Saturday. With the win, the Engineers improved to 9-3 on the year while the Bobcats fell to 2-2.

The No. 2 doubles tandem of Joanna L. MacKay ’07 and Serena Y. Lin ’08 led off with an 8-1 victory for MIT. Mariah N. Hoover ’07 and Leslie A. Hansen ’10 recorded an 8-4 decision in the top spot while Yi Wang ’07 and Anisa K. McCree ’10 wrapped up doubles play with a win by the same margin.

Hansen extended the Engineers’ lead after defeating Caryn Benisch, 6-1, 6-3. The Cardinal and Gray clinched the match following Hoover’s 6-3, 6-2 win in the No. 3 slot. Bates earned its only point of the day when Alexandra Piacquad defeated Lin, 6-1, 6-1, in the No. 2 position. Wang edged out Laura Harris, 6-4, 6-3, while MacKay did not drop a game in her 6-0, 6-0 No. 5 singles victory. Karina N. Pikhart ’09 closed the day with a 6-4, 6-3 win in the No. 6 spot.