SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. - Day two of action wrapped-up on Saturday at the 2017 NEWITT Tournament and the Mount Holyoke College tennis team had another solid effort on their home courts. Leading the way on day two was the duo of sophomore Catherine Peabody and first year Anya Gerasimova, who are advancing to the consolation semifinals on Sunday in the B Draw.
Peabody (San Francisco, Calif./Lick-Wilmerding) and Gerasimove (Salem, Ore./West Salem) opened the day's consolation round against Amherst's Catie Burkhart and Ashley Park. The Mammoths duo won the opening doubles match by an 8-5 margin, but Peabody rebounded in singles with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Burkhart. Gerasimova sealed the 2-1 victory for the Lyons with a 6-3, 6-0 win against Park. In the duo's next pairing against Babson's Kylie Kam and Tatiana Ramirez, MHC advanced into the finals of the B Draw consolation after a retirement in one of the singles matches by Babson, giving the Lyons the 2-1 edge to advance. Peabody and Gerasimova will play Sunday morning with their opponent to be determined.
Other action for the Lyons today included the B draw pairing of sophomore Ching-Ching Huang (Lukang Township, Taiwan/Taipei Municipal First Girls' HS) and senior Ishita Tibrewal (Kolkata, India/Modern HS for Girls). The pair squared off against Colby's Callie Nesbitt and Isha Banerjee, who opened with a doubles win by an 8-5 margin. Nesbitt then battled to a 6-2, 7-6 (4) win over Huang, while Banerjee bested Tibrewal, 6-4, 6-1 to win 3-0 and advance. The Lyons duo finished the tournament with today's loss.
Senior Katherine Schumacher (Baldwinsville, N.Y./Charles W. Baker) and junior Clara Wang (Madison, Conn./Daniel Hand) played in the consolation of the C draw against Wheaton's Harley Swainston and Jordyn Paul. Wheaton's duo opened with an 8-4 victory in doubles, followed by a tough 6-2, 4-6, (11-9) win by Swainston over Wang. Schumacher earned MHC's lone point, posting a 6-4, 6-1 win against Paul. MHC's pair also concluded action at the tournament with today's loss.
Rounding out the action for the Lyons was junior Madison Rosen (Portland, Ore./Grant), who played mixed doubles once again today in the main C draw with MIT's Serena Le. The pair played against Brandeis's duo of Rachel Zubinsky and Isabel Cepeda. The Judges duo opened with a hard-fought 8-6 win in doubles, earning the victory to advance to Sunday after Cepeda bested Rosen, 6-2, 6-3 in singles action.
Action at the NEWITT Tournament continues on Sunday.
