New Haven, Conn. - January 7, 2020 - Playing their first match of 2020, the Mount Holyoke College squash team fell to host Yale University, 9-0, at the Brady Squash Center on Tuesday afternoon.
With the loss, the Lyons, which were No. 22 in the latest Collegiate Squash Association (CSA) National Rankings, drops to 1-3 on the year, while the Bulldogs, which were No. 4 in the latest poll, improves to 5-0 overall.
Fresh off of leading her home country of Sri Lanka to a Bronze medal at the South Asian Games in December, Mihiliya Methsarani (Panadura, Sri Lanka) dropped a 3-0 decision to Elisabeth Ross (Philadelphia, Pa.) at the No. 1 spot by set scores of 11-4, 11-9, 11-4. At the No. 2 spot, Kuzivakwashe Madungwe (Harare, Zimbabwe) fell to Brianna Jefferson (Mississauga, Ontario) 11-1, 11-1, 11-3, and at No. 3, Emma Robson (Amherst, Mass.) dropped an 11-4, 11-3, 11-1 match to Aishwarya Bhattacharya (Mumbai, India).
Moving to the middle third of the results, Yale's Riya Mital (West Harrison, N.Y.) outlasted Giselle Cabrera (Bronx, N.Y.) 11-4, 11-3, 11-4, while at the No. 5 spot, Meli Marquez (New Haven, Conn.) lost to Alexis Lazor (Westwood, Mass.), 11-4, 11-6, 11-1. At No. 6, Genesis Lara Granados (Bronx, N.Y.) suffered a 11-2, 11-0, 11-3 setback in her first competition of the 2019-20 season.
At No. 7, Nicole Lara Granados (Bronx, N.Y.) fell to Jessica Yacobucci (Greenwich, Conn.) 11-1, 11-2, 11-4, while at No. 8, Molly Tomlinson (Derbyshire, England) defeated Anna Braman (Wellesley, Mass.), 11-1, 11-3, 11-1. Lastly, at No. 9, Janiqua Davis (New Haven, Conn.) lost to Julia Zhukovets (Kiev, Ukraine) 11-2, 11-4, 11-2.
Sophomore Jing Xu (Hangzhou, China) also took part in an exhibition match for the Lyons and fell to Anika Bhargava (Ann Arbor, Mich.) by the set scores of 11-0, 11-6, 11-0.
Up next, Mount Holyoke College will head to Maine for three matches. The Lyons will take on Bowdoin on Friday, January 10 at 1 p.m. before heading to Bates for a 6 p.m. match, also on Friday. Mount Holyoke College will then head to Colby College for a 3 p.m. match on Saturday, January 11.
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