NORTON, Mass. – Fifth-seeded Mount Holyoke College claimed a 5-2 victory over fourth-seeded Wheaton College in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Women's Tennis Tournament quarterfinal round on Wednesday evening inside the Haas Athletic Center on the Beard Field House tennis courts. Today's match was moved indoors due to inclement weather.
Mount Holyoke (7-5, 4-4 NEWMAC) will take on No. 1 MIT (9-0, 8-0 NEWMAC) in the Semifinal round of the NEWMAC Tournament on Saturday, October 25 at 11 a.m. on the campus of Babson College. Wheaton's fall season comes to a close at 6-6 overall (5-3 NEWMAC).
At the conclusion of doubles play, Mount Holyoke held a 2-1 advantage as the No. 1 pairing of junior Margaux Holloschutz (Franklin Lakes, N.J./Saddle River Day School) and first-year Ishita Tibrewal (Kolkata, Inda/Modern High School for Girls) defeated senior Alexandra Marlowe (Mesa, Ariz./Mountain View) and Izzy Gorham (Durham, N.H./Oyster River) by an 8-1 score.
Wheaton's No. 2 pairing of junior Caroline DiNicola-Fawley (Brattleboro, Vt./Brattleboro Union) and senior Kathryn Burleson (Osterville, Mass./Cape Cod Academy) earned a hard-fought 9-8 (10-8) win over senior Sarah Anischik (Tolland, Conn./Tolland) and sophomore Amy Chen (Hilo, Hawaii/Hilo) to level the score at 1-1 before classmates Alexa Colas (Teaneck, N.J./The Dwight-Englewood School) and Mira Murali (Fall City, Wash./American Int. School) bested Wheaton juniors Stassy Furber (Montpelier, Vt./Montpelier) and Caroline Stanclift (Camden, Maine/Cushing Academy) at the No. 3 position by an 8-4 margin.
In singles action, Marlowe turned in a 6-1, 6-0 decision against Holloschutz at the No. 1 position, but Tibrewal posted a 6-2, 6-2 triumph over Burleson at No. 4 to reclaim a 3-2 differential for the vistors. Colas went on to top Furber, 6-3, 6-1 at No. 5 and Murali completed the victory for Mount Holyoke at the No. 3 slot with a 6-0, 6-3 victory against DiNicola-Fawley.
With the win, Mount Holyoke will be making its first appearance in the NEWMAC Tournament semifinal round since 2006. That year, the Lyons also faced MIT. Additionally, it marks the fifth time in program history that MHC has advanced to the Semifinals. The Lyons previously appeared in the NEWMAC Tournament Semifinals in 2006, 2005, 1999 and 1992.
Story courtesy of Shawn Medeiros, Wheaton Sports Information Director. Photo courtesy of Lori Hendricks.
