SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. - It was a solid all-around effort for the Mount Holyoke College tennis team as it posted a 9-0 victory over Smith College in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference action on Tuesday evening at the MHC Tennis Courts. With the win, the Lyons move to 4-4 overall and 2-3 in NEWMAC play, while Pioneers slip to 0-4 overall (0-4 NEWMAC).
Match play started out tight as it was a close battle for the first doubles victory. Mount Holyoke seniors captains AnnElizabeth Konkel (Camp Hill, Pa./Harrisburg Academy) and Eman Malik (Karachi, Pakistan/Karachi Grammar School) came out the victors over Pioneers' junior Tessy Lopez (Pomona, Calif./Ganesha) and first year Kelli Cheung (Plainfield, N.J./Union County Academy) by a 9-7 margin.
Second doubles saw the MHC duo of sophomore Margaux Holloschutz (Franklin Lakes, N.J./Saddle River Day School) and senior Maya Sayarath (St. Johnsbury, Vt./St. Johnsbury) post an 8-2 win against Smith junior Andrea Tanco (Veracruz, Mexico/Li Po Chun (Hong Kong)) and first year Maragaret Anne Smith (Spring Lake, N.J./High Technology).
MHC's third doubles pair of junior Sarah Anischik (Tolland, Conn./Tolland) and senior Kelsey Brower (Tuckerton, N.J./Pinelands Regional) wrapped up the opening play with an 8-1 win over Smith junior Ruth Yi (Federal Way, Wash./Beamer) and first year Alexandra Steck (Loudonville, N.Y./Emma Willard).
Singles action saw Konkel defeat Chenng by a 7-5, 6-0 margin in the first flight, while Sayarath posted a 6-1, 6-1 win against junior Seema Samawi (Damascus, Syria/King's Academy) in the second flight.
Holloschutz defeated Yi (6-0, 6-0) in thirds before Anischik downed Smith (6-0, 6-0) in the fourth flight. Mount Holyoke closed out the match with Malik defeating sophomore Katheryn Dernbach (Naples, Fla./Community School), 6-0, 6-1 and first year Mira Murali (Fall City, Wash./American International School) defeated Smith's Lopez, 6-0, 6-0.
Mount Holyoke returns to action this weekend as several players take part in the ITA New England Regional Tournament, hosted by Williams. Smith is back in action on October 1 when it hosts Springfield at 4pm.
Photo courtesy of RJB Sports Photography.
