SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. - Powered by strong wins from each end of the ladder, the Mount Holyoke College squash team posted an 8-1 victory over Connecticut College on Senior Night at the MHC Squash Courts. With the victory, the #23 Lyons move to 9-9 on the season, while the #27 Camels dip to 6-15 overall.
Mount Holyoke saw an outstanding effort from the lower half of the lineup. Leading the way was sophomore Anna Hartman (Montpelier, Vt./Montpelier), who grinded out a 3-2 victory against junior Myra Jacobs (West Wardsboro, Vt./Newtown) in the ninth position. After claimed the first two sets by scores of 11-6 and 11-5, Hartman found herself down as Jacobs battled back for wins of 13-11 and 11-7. It was the fifth set that saw Hartman post the win as she scraped out an 11-9 final margin.
Lyons' sophomore Catherine Ryan (Longmeadow, Mass./Longmeadow) also battled to victory in the eighth spot, defeating sophomore Kaleigh Tierney (Burlington, Conn./Ethel Walker) by a 3-1 (11-6, 11-5, 8-11, 11-7) score.
MHC junior Xianger Fei (Hangzhou, China/Hangzhou Foreign Language School) was a 3-0 (11-2, 11-1, 12-10) winner against sophomore Madison Craft (Newtown Square, Pa./Episcopal Academy) in sevens, while first year Sanjna Merchant (Mumbai, India/Jai Hind College) claimed a 3-0 (11-3, 11-1, 11-3) win over Camels' first year Caroline Lippincott (Jamestown, R.I./Lincoln School).
In the middle of the lineup, senior Elyse Taylor (Mission, Texas/Pomfret School (Conn.) was a 3-0 (11-1, 11-6, 11-5) victor from the fifth spot against first year Anne Holly (York, Pa./Roland Park Country School). Connecticut College picked up its lone point of the match from the fourth position as sophomore Adrienne Sieverding (Red Hook, N.Y./Kent School) recorded a 3-0 (11-6, 11-5, 11-2) win against MHC first year Allison Shilling (New Canaan, Conn./Choate Rosemary Hall).
The top three from Mount Holyoke all cruised to victory led by senior captain Randima Ranaweera (Colombo, Sri Lanka/Sirimavo Bandaranaike Girls School), who defeated junior Caroline Sargent (Seattle, Wash./Bush School) by a 3-0 (11-6, 11-4, 11-1) score.
MHC sophomore Sherouk Khefagy (Cairo, Egypt/International School of Choueifat) recorded a 3-0 (11-6, 11-5, 11-2) win against junior Leah Puklin (Bala Cynwyd, Pa./Lower Merion) at the second position, while junior Samantha Rosado (Meriden, Conn./F.T. Maloney) wrapped up the action for the Lyons with a 3-0 (11-9, 11-2, 11-8) victory over sophomore Ashley Arthur (New York, N.Y./Taft School) at three.
Prior to the match, the Lyons honored their three graduating seniors for all their hard work to the program. Those honored included Ranaweera, Taylor and Katrina Intal (Bronx, N.Y./St. Paul's School).
Mount Holyoke returns to action on Wednesday when it travels to Amherst for a 6pm match against the Jeffs. Connecticut College is now idle until the CSA National Championships, which begin on February 21st.
