SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. - Action at the 2014 NEWITT Tournament got underway on Friday afternoon and four Mount Holyoke College pairs were in action on day one. Leading the way was the duo of Mira Murali and Alexa Colas, who advanced to the quarterfinals in the C draw.
Colas posted a 7-5, 6-4 win over Brandeis's Dylan Schlesinger, while Murali shouldered a 6-4, 5-7, 13-15 defeat at the hands of Sarita Biswas. The pair advanced however, with a 9-8 (4) victory in doubles for the 2-1 margin. Colas and Murali will now face Nichols duo Cristina Szepanski and Lindsay Benoit at 9am on outdoor court 3.
The Lyons top pair of Margaux Holloschutz and Ishita Tibrewal shouldered a 3-0 loss on day one. The duo fell in doubles to Williams's Julia Cancio and Mia Gancayco by an 8-1 margin. Holloschutz then fell, 6-0, 6-1 to Cancio, while Tibrewal lost to Gancayco, 6-0, 6-0. The pair are back in action on Saturday morning on indoor court 2-3 in the B draw consolations at 9am, where they face off against Simmons' Theresa Reinhard and Meghan Cokely.
Other B draw action saw MHC's Sarah Anischik and Amy Chen square off against Wesleyan's Dasha Dubinsky and Elle Lindholm-Uzzi. The Cardinals pair captured an 8-1 win in doubles, while Dubinsky defeated Anischik, 6-1, 6-0 in singles and Chen lost to Lindholm-Uzzi, 6-0, 6-0. Consolation action resumes for the pair on Saturday morning on indoor court 1 against Nichols' Alanna Judd and Lauren Candia.
Rounding out the action for the Lyons was the four pair of Michelle Cai, Katherine Schumacher and Madeline Derentz. In doubles, Cai and Derentz fell to Simmon's Katie Crowley and Han Le by a 8-4 margin. Cai then shouldered a tough 6-7, 6-2, 10-5 loss to Crowley, while Schumacher faced off against Le and fell 6-0, 6-3. The group is back in D draw consolation action on Saturday morning at Smith College against the Pioneers' own duo of Margaret Anne Smith and Samantha Peikes.
