NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The #22 Mount Holyoke College squash team took to the court on Sunday morning, posting a victory over #24 Colby College, 7-2, before falling 6-3 to #20 Bowdoin College. The Lyons move to 7-8 on the season after the split of neutral site matches, which were played at Yale University.
MHC opened the day against the Mules and saw a strong effort from each end of the ladder. Among the highlight victories were in the third position as senior captain Shaheen Madraswala recorded a 3-1 (11-4, 11-6, 3-11, 11-6) win over Colby's Tara Tischio. Fellow senior Elyse Taylor also battled it out to victory in her match, defeating Amelia Barnett in the sixth position by a 3-2 score (8-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-2). Taylor battled back from being down 0-2 to post the win with scores of 11-7, 11-5 and 11-2.
Other winners in the match included senior captain Randima Ranaweera in the top spot, who beat Julie Wolpow by a 3-0 (11-2, 11-4, 11-7) margin. Sophomore Sherouk Khefagy downed Mikaela Johnson, 3-0 (11-5, 11-6, 11-2), while junior Samantha Rosado defeated Ren Robinson, also by a 3-0 (11-9, 11-8, 11-6) score.
Rounding out the victories in match one were Xianger Fei, who beat Caroline Paltham, 3-0 (11-6, 11-4, 11-9), and first year Sanjna Merchant, who earned a 3-1 (11-5, 11-6, 8-11, 11-5) win over Katie Chow.
Match two saw the Polar Bears put up a strong effort to take a 6-3 decision. The Lyons victories came in the first, second and ninth spots of the ladder. Ranaweera battled Bowdoin's Rachel Barnes to a 3-2 decision (6-11, 3-11, 11-5, 11-8, 11-3), coming from behind to take the victory.
Khefagy posted a 3-2 win in the second position as well, gutting it out in the fifth frame against Sarah Nelson for a line score of 11-5, 11-6, 6-11, 8-11, 11-5. Rounding out the wins was Merchant, who defeated Katherine Gracey by a 3-0 (11-4, 11-2, 11-0) margin.
Mount Holyoke returns to action next Saturday when they participate in the 2014 Seven Sisters Championship. The Lyons look to win their eighth consecutive title as they take on Wellesley and Smith in Northampton, Mass.
