BOSTON, Mass. – All six players for the Mount Holyoke women's tennis team were double-winners in a 9-0 victory over host Simmons College this afternoon on Daly Courts in Brighton, Mass. The dual match was the season opener for the Lyons as they improve to 1-0, while the Sharks four-match win streak comes to a halt and they fall to 4-3.
Sophomore Ching-Ching Huang (Lukang Township, Taiwan) paired with senior Ishita Tibrewal (Kolkata, India) to win the final two games at number one doubles to earn a 9-7 triumph over the Simmons duo of sophomore Jessica Schroedl (Staatsburg, N.Y.) and senior Oliva Lakes (Dorchester, Mass.).
Huang later earned a victory at first singles for Mount Holyoke, defeating Schroedl, 6-4, 6-1, while Tibrewal also won in straight sets at number two singles over Sharks' sophomore Nickie Nguyen (Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam/Saint Joseph Preparatory (Mass.)), 6-3, 6-4.
The Lyons came out on top at number two doubles as well thanks to an 8-5 victory from their pairing of sophomore Catherine Peabody (San Francisco, Calif.) and first year Anya Gerasimova (Salem, Ore.) over the Simmons sophomore combo of Marissa Johnson (Norwell, Mass.) and Nguyen.
Peabody dropped just one game at third singles over Sharks' junior Michelle Medici (South Portland, Maine), 6-1, 6-0 and Gerasimova did one better with a 6-0, 6-0 effort over junior Paola Rios (Miami, Fla.).
The junior tandem of Madison Rosen (Portland, Ore) and Clara Wang (Madison, Conn.) followed the Mount Holyoke trend with an 8-5 win at third doubles over Rios and first year Celia Speth (Deerfield, Mass.) for Simmons.
Rosen cruised by Speth at number five singles with a 6-1, 6-0 showing for the Lyons and Wang took the first set, 6-4, over Sharks' first year player Elise Kenney (Orono, Maine) before dominating the second frame by a count of 6-0.
Simmons returns to action on Saturday, September 23 when it hosts Great Northeast Athletic Conference foe Albertus Magnus College at Daly Courts for a 12:00 p.m. match, while Mount Holyoke heads to Newport, R.I. on September 22 to compete at the Tennis Hall of Fame Tournament.
Match recap courtesy of Simmons Athletic Communications.
