SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. (Sept. 15, 2012) – A close battle throughout came down to the final singles match as junior Eman Malik notched a third set victory in the fourth flight to lift the Mount Holyoke College tennis team to a 5-4 victory over Wheaton College on Saturday at MHC Tennis Courts. It marked the first NEWMAC contest of the season for either team, which saw the homestanding Lyons move to 2-1 on the season, while the visiting Lyons are also now 2-1.
Malik (Karachi, Pakistan/Karachi Grammar School) won her first set against Wheaton's Sarah Crom (Bremen, Germany/International School of Bremen) by a close 6-4 margin, but Crom took the second set by a score of 6-3. In the deciding set, Malik was at the top of her game as she won 6-0 to seal the team victory.
Wheaton came out dominant to open the game, posting victories at first and second doubles. Both matches were incredibly close as junior Lyndsay Cooke (Bakersfield, Calif./Bakersfield Christian) and sophomore Alexandra Marlowe (Mesa, Ariz./Mountain View) edged MHC senior Nahrhee Han (Albertson, N.Y./Hendricks) and junior AnnElizabeth Konkel (Camp Hill, Pa./Harrisburg Academy) by a slim 9-7 margin.
Mount Holyoke's lone point in the opening round came in the third flight as first year Margaux Holloschutz (Franklin Lakes, N.J./Saddle River Day School) and senior My-Linh Nguyen (Potomac, Md./Richard Montgomery) battled to an 8-5 victory over senior Jesse Boggis (Hopkinton, Mass./Hopkinton) and first year Caroline DiNicola-Fawley (Brattleboro, Vt./Brattleboro Union). It marked their third straight win of the season.
Wheaton's Cooke and Marlowe made it a 4-1 advantage as they captured victories in the first and second flights against Han and Konkel, respectively, in singles, but Mount Holyoke gained critical ground in the final four singles matches.
In addition to Malik's match-sealing win, sophomore Sarah Anischik (Tolland, Conn./Tolland) also had a critical match with a victory over junior Morgan Bell (Gloucester, Mass./Pingree School). Down 0-3 in the first set, Anischik battled back to go ahead and later win by a 7-5 margin. She also fought for a close 6-4 win in the second set.
Junior Maya Sayarath (St. Johnsbury, Vt./St. Johnsbury Academy) then posted a 6-3, 6-2 win over DiNicola-Fawley in the fifth flight, while Holloschutz remained perfect on the season in the sixth flight with a 6-0, 7-5 win over Boggis.
Additionally, the victory for Mount Holyoke was the first over Wheaton in the last six matches, dating back to the 2006-07 season. The Lyons are back on the court on September 22 in a 1pm NEWMAC contest at MIT. Wheaton is also in action on the 22nd, hosting Springfield in NEWMAC play at 12pm.
