SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. – Behind the eighth win of the season for three different Lyons players, the Mount Holyoke College tennis team defeated Springfield College, 8-1 in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action on Tuesday evening. With the win, the Lyons improve to 6-4 on the season and 4-3 in conference play, while the Pride is now 5-5 and 3-4 in the NEWMAC.
The homestanding Lyons came out strong to start doubles as the first flight pairing of junior captain Margaux Holloschutz (Franklin Lakes, N.J./Saddle River Day School) and first year Ishita Tibrewal (Kolkata, India/Modern High School for Girls) posted an 8-1 win over Springfield sophomores Rachel London (Port Jefferson, N.Y./Earl L. Vandermeulen) and Stephanie Foster (Woodbridge, Conn./Amity Regional)
Senior captain Sarah Anischik (Tolland, Conn./Tolland) paired with sophomore Amy Chen (Hilo, Hawaii/Hilo) once again in the second flight and the duo improved to 6-4 overall with an 8-3 win against junior Melanie Thulin (Manchester Center, Vt./Burr & Burton Academy) and sophomore Stephani Post (Westford, Mass./Westford Academy).
Sophomore Alexa Colas (Teaneck, N.J./The Dwight-Englewood School) and classmate Mira Murali (Fall City, Wash./American International School) then posted an 8-2 victory over first year Rachel Litchfield (Northbridge, Mass./Northbridge) and sophomore Kelsey Whelpley (Mastic Beach, N.Y./William Floyd) in the third flight.
Singles action saw Springfield pick up its lone point in the sixth flight as junior Ariana Shemms (Goshen, Conn./Wamogo Regional) defeated MHC junior Michelle Cai (Hong Kong, China/St. Paul's Co-Educational College) by a 6-2, 6-3 margin.
Holloschutz posted a 7-6 (7-1), 6-1 win over London in the first flight, while Anischik recorded scores of 6-1, 6-2 in the second flight to defeat Foster. Murali picked up a 6-1, 6-3 win against Litchfield in three, while Tibrewal fought hard against Thulin for a 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (10-5) victory in the fourth flight. Colas rounded out the efforts in five with a 6-0, 7-5 win against Whelpley.
Murali, Tibrewal and Colas all improved to 8-2 on the season in singles with their victories against the Pride.
Both squads close out their NEWMAC regular season schedules on Saturday as Mount Holyoke travels to Babson (1pm) and Springfield heads to Wellesley.
