SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. (Mar. 30, 2013) - Powered by a critical first singles win by senior Nahrhee Han, the Mount Holyoke College tennis team defeated Endicott College by a 5-4 margin and went on to post a 9-0 victory over Lesley University in the afternoon match. With the victory, the Lyons improve to 7-6 on the season, while the Gulls and the Lynx fall to 14-3 and 0-14, respectively.
In the dramatic victory to open the day, Han (Albertson, N.Y./Herricks) found herself down after the first set as Endicott's Emilie Cloutier (Lewiston, Maine/Lewiston) won 6-3. Not willing to back down, Han won the second set by a 6-4 margin and grabbed the super tie-breaker to claim victory, 10-8.
Another outstanding match was also played in the third flight as sophomore Sarah Anischik (Tolland, Conn./Tolland) fought her way back from a 6-2 deficit to win the second set by a 7-6 margin, also taking the tie-breaker (7-3). But it was Gulls sophomore Amy Heacox (Marion, Mass./Old Rochester Regional) who came away with the victory, winning 10-4 in the super tie-breaker.
Mount Holyoke cruised to victory in the fourth through sixth flights as junior Eman Malik (Karachi, Pakistan/Karachi Grammar School), first year Margaux Holloschutz (Franklin Lakes, N.J./Saddle River Day School) and senior My-Linh Nguyen (Potomac, Md./Richard Montgomery) each claimed victory.
The doubles action also saw drama to get things started as the Lyons first team pair of junior AnnElizabeth Konkel (Camp Hill, Pa./Harrisburg Academy) and Holloschutz battled back from a deficit, but were handed defeat in a tie-breaker, 9-8 (7-5).
Mount Holyoke's lone point in doubles came from the third flight team of Anischik and Nguyen, who pulled out an 8-1 win over Endicott's Gina Pinciaro (Beverly, Mass./Beverly) and Brittany Potter (Bedford, N.H./The Derryfield School).
In the afternoon match against Lesley, the Lyons got victories in each of the first four singles matches as Anischik, Malik, Holloschutz and Nguyen each won, while the other two matches were won by default. MHC also won the first two doubles flights, with the third also a win by default.
Mount Holyoke returns to action next Saturday when it hosts Connecticut College (10:30am) and Rensselaer (2pm) at the MHC Tennis Courts. Endicott next plays on April 8 when it hosts Springfield (3:30pm).
