POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - The Mount Holyoke College squash team opened up the season 1-1 after picking up a 9-0 sweep over Fordham University and falling to the host Vassar, 7-2.

In the match against Fordham, the Lyons dominated throughout, posting 3-0 victories in each match. Junior Brandy Williamson (New York, N.Y./Thurgood Marshall Academy)  opened up with an 11-2, 11-2, 11-1 win at the top of the ladder, followed by an 11-1, 11-2, 11-2 victory for sophomore Ragini Ghose (Dubai/Millifield School) from the second position. From the third position, sophomore Lessly Portillo (New Haven, Conn./Hill Regional Career Magnet) continued the momentum with an 11-1, 11-6, 11-2 triumph.

Senior Allison Shilling (New Canaan, Conn./Choate Rosemary Hall) posted an 11-1, 11-4, 12-10 victory from the four, while sophomore Tanishka Sachidanand (Karnataka, India/Canadian International School) earned an 11-3, 11-2, 11-2 win to give the Lyons a 5-0 advantage from the five.

Senior Rose Minichiello (Collinsville, Conn./Canton) picked up an 11-4, 11-3, 11-2 win from the sixth position, followed by an 11-2, 11-2, 11-0 victory by senior Amanda Lee (Windsor, Conn./Ethel Walker School) from the seven. The Lyons closed out the match with an 11-2, 11-5, 11-6 win by Syry Mitchell at eight (Amherst, Mass./Amherst Regional) and an 11-3, 11-1, 11-3 victory by Kirina Gair-MacMichael (West Hartford, Conn./Ethel Walker School) from the ninth position to complete the sweep.

Against Vassar in the opening match, the Brewers Hannah Nice (Hanover, N.H./Hanover) opened up with an 11-5, 11-8, 11-5 victory over Williamson at the top of the ladder. Ghose then knotted the match up at 1-all following an 11-4, 11-8,11-2 win over sophomore Jiamin Wu (Singapore, Singapore/Raffles Institution) from the second position.

Vassar's Isabelle Bertram (Salt Lake City, Utah/West) came back from down 2-0 to edge out Portillo, 8-11, 9-11, 14-12, 11-4, 13-11 at the three. From the four, Shilling earned the Lyons a score after battling from behind for a 9-11, 11-7, 11-4, 12-10 victory. The Brewers went on to earn the next five points to give Vassar the 7-2 win.

Mount Holyoke will be back in action on Saturday, facing Smith College at 10:00am and Northeastern University at 12:00pm.