LEWISTON, Maine – Despite a solid effort from the first and third doubles teams, the Mount Holyoke College tennis team was unable to get past Bates College in non-conference action on Saturday afternoon at Merrill Gymnasium, falling 9-0. It was the spring opener for the Lyons, who move to 8-5 on the season.

Bates, who improves to 2-3, swept doubles play with two-game victories at both second and third doubles, then swept all six singles matches in two sets apiece.

Bates junior Maisie Silverman (Brunswick, Maine) and senior Kate Rosenthal (Pittsburgh, Pa.) took on Mount Holyoke's sophomore Ayame Yazawa and first year Ching-Ching Huang from the first flight. The two teams battled hard, but it would be the Bobcats top pair that took the 9-7 victory.

At No. 3 doubles, senior Olivia Voccola (Falmouth, Maine) and sophomore Hannah Londoner (Westport, Conn.) won a close 8-6 decision over senior captain Amy Chen and sophomore Clara Wang. Meanwhile Bates first-years Lauren Hernandez (Chester, N.J.) and Isabelle Rovinski (New York, N.Y.) bested MHC senior Alexa Colas and first year Catherine Peabody from two by a 8-1 score.

Silverman then defeated Yazawa 6-2, 6-3 at No. 1 singles, while Rovinski downed Huang 6-1, 6-0 at second singles. Playing at No. 3 singles, Rosenthal bested junior Ishita Tibrewal 6-2, 6-1, and Voccola defeated Peabody, 6-3, 7-5 at No. 4. Hernandez and Londoner both won by 6-2, 6-1 scores at No. 5 and No. 6 singles, respectively.

The visiting Lyons (8-5) next travel to Puerto Rico and will take on the University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez on March 15 at 10am.