SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. (Oct. 2, 2012) – The Mount Holyoke College tennis team battled back from a 2-1 deficit after doubles action to win five of six singles and claim a 6-3 win over Clark University in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) match at the MHC Field House. With the victory, the Lyons move to 3-2 on the season with a 2-1 mark in conference play, while the Cougars slip to 5-6 overall and 0-3 in the NEWMAC.
Clark jumped out to the early advantage as junior Gaby Suriano (San Salvador, El Salvador/Academia Britanica) and first year Phoebe Hughes (Parkland, Fla./Douglas) combined for a hard-fought, 8-5 victory over Lyons' captains Nahrhee Han (Albertson, N.Y./Herricks) and AnnElizabeth Konkel (Camp Hill, Pa./Harrisburg Academy) in the first flight.
The Cougars claimed the second flight doubles with an 8-2 victory, but the Lyons battled back for an 8-3 win at third doubles as first year Margaux Holloschutz (Franklin Lakes, N.J./Saddle River Day School) and senior My-Linh Nguyen (Potomac, Md./Richard Montgomery) remained perfect on the season, improving to 4-0 overall.
Suriano gave the Cougars a victory in first flight singles, defeating Han by a 6-0, 6-1 margin, but the Lyons went to work in the final five flights. Holloschutz posted a 6-0, 6-0 victory in the sixth flight against first year Rebecca Kravetz (Wayland, Mass./Wayland) to set the tone. Juniors Eman Malik (Karachi, Pakistan/Karachi Grammar School) and Maya Sayarath (St. Johnsbury, Vt./St. Johnsbury Academy) both followed suit soon after.
Malik posted a 6-3, 6-2 win over Hughes in the fourth flight, while Sayarath was a 6-1, 6-0 winner over senior Martha Ziemer (Arlington, Mass./Arlington) in fifth singles. Both improved to 4-1 on the season, while Holloschutz remained a perfect 5-0 on the season in her flight.
Konkel then posted a 6-3, 6-3 victory over junior Sarah Sachs (Branford, Conn./Branford) to seal the win for the Lyons, but it was a tough battle in the third flight that came down to the wire as sophomore Sarah Anischik (Tolland, Conn./Tolland) fought hard for victory.
Against senior Maggie Swann (Portland, Maine/South Portland), Anischik had to battle back in the first set to pull out a 7-5 win. She used that momentum to take a 6-2 win in the second set.
Mount Holyoke returns to the court on Saturday when it travels to Wellesley for a 1pm NEWMAC match against the Blue. Clark is also in action on Saturday, hosting conference-foe, MIT, at 1pm.
