SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. – In a battle of Lyons vs. Lions, Mount Holyoke College came out the victor with a 9-0 win against Emerson College in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action on Saturday afternoon. With the win, MHC remains undefeated with a 4-0 mark (2-0 NEWMAC), while Emerson slips to 0-2 (0-2 NEWMAC).
The Lyons had an outstanding effort to open the day, sweeping doubles action in dominant fashion. MHC's first doubles team of sophomore Ayame Yazawa (Tokyo, Japan/St. Johnsbury Academy (Vt.) and first year Ching-Ching Huang (Lukang Township, Taiwan/Taipei Municipal First Girls' HS) notched an 8-0 win over Emerson first years Alisah Parikh and Sabrina Jacobs (Demarest, N.J./Northern Valley Demarest).
In the second flight, Lyons' senior captain Alexa Colas (Teaneck, N.J./The Dwight-Englewood School) and first year Catherine Peabody (San Francisco, Calif./Lick-Wilmerding HS) combined for an 8-1 victory against sophomore Jamie CoConis (Ridgefield, Conn./Ridgefield) and first year Rachel Scalera, while from the third flight, senior captain Amy Chen (Hilo, Hawaii/Hilo) and sophomore Clara Wang (Madison, Conn./Daniel Hand) bested first years Emily Hagopian (Oradell, N.J.) and Alex Weingarten (Carlsbad, Calif./San Dieguito Academy).
Chen made it a 4-0 lead for the Lyons from six flight singles as she defeated sophomore Tiziana Vazquez in straight sets, 6-0, 6-0. Peabody then bested Scalera at four, 6-0, 6-0 for a 5-0 lead. From the second flight, Huang earned a 6-3, 6-2 win over Parikh, while sophomore Madison Rosen (Portland, Ore./Grant) defeated Weingarten at five, 6-1, 6-2 for a 7-0 Lyons lead.
Junior Ishita Tibrewal (Kolkata, India/Modern High School for Girls) went on to claim a 6-3, 6-1 victory over CoConis at three, while Yazawa sealed the MHC victory in the first flight with a 6-0, 6-4 win over Jacobs.
The Lyons return to action on Sunday when they host Wellesley at 11am. Emerson is back on the court on Tuesday, traveling to UMass-Dartmouth at 3:30pm.
