NEWMAC DIGITAL PROGRAM / TOURNAMENT BRACKET
SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. - Fourth-seeded Mount Holyoke College claimed a 5-0 victory over fifth-seeded Wheaton College in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Women's Tennis Tournament quarterfinal round on Wednesday evening at the MHC Tennis Courts.
Mount Holyoke (8-3, 5-3 NEWMAC) will take on No. 1 MIT (8-0, 8-0 NEWMAC) in the Semifinal round of the NEWMAC Tournament on Saturday, October 22 at 11:30 a.m. on the campus of MIT. Wheaton's fall season comes to a close at 4-6 overall (4-4 NEWMAC).
Doubles play opened the match as MHC's third flight pair of senior captain Amy Chen (Hilo, Hawaii/Hilo) and sophomore Clara Wang (Madison, Conn./Daniel Hand) bested Wheaton's junior Arielle Klopsis (West Islip, N.Y./West Islip) and sophomore Connor O'Keefe (Lutz, Fla./George M. Steinbrenner) by an 8-1 margin.
MHC's No. 2 pairing of senior captain Alexa Colas (Teaneck, N.J./The Dwight-Englewood School) and first year Catherine Peabody (San Francisco, Calif./Lick-Wilmerding HS) put the home team up 2-0 after posting an 8-3 win against junior Jodi Katz (Needham, Mass./Needham) and first year Harley Swainston (Hudsonville, Mich./Hudsonville).
Wrapping up doubles play was Mount Holyoke's first flight team of sophomore Ayame Yazawa (Tokyo, Japan/St. Johnsbury Academy) and first year Ching-Ching Huang (Lukang Township, Taiwan/Taipei Municipal First Girls' HS), who edged out sophomore Ines de Bracamonte (Sunny Isles Beach, Fla./Pine Crest) and first year Isabelle Garvanne (Los Angeles, Calif./Chadwick), 9-8 (7-3).
In singles action, with Mount Holyoke up by a 3-0 margin, Chen turned in a 6-0, 6-2 decision over Klopsis at the No. 6. Peabody then sealed the victory for the Lyons with a 6-2, 6-1 win at No. 4 against O'Keefe.
With the win, Mount Holyoke will be making its third straight appearance in the NEWMAC Tournament semifinal round, having earned a 5-0 win against Wheaton last year in South Hadley, which was preceded by a 5-2 win in Norton the year before. Additionally, it marks the seventh time in program history that MHC has advanced to the Semifinals. The Lyons, who will face MIT for the third straight year, have previously appeared in the NEWMAC Tournament Semifinals in 2015, 2014, 2006, 2005, 1999 and 1992.
