ORLANDO, Fla. – The Mount Holyoke College tennis team kicked off its spring trip in Orlando today, falling by a tough 6-3 margin to Colby-Sawyer College. With the win, the Chargers improve to 14-1, while the Lyons are now 3-5.

MHC fell behind early as Colby-Sawyer got out to a quick 2-0 lead after the first and second doubles matches. The Lyons regained some ground in the final doubles match as juniors Clara Wang (Madison, Conn./Daniel Hand) and Joy Maran (Santa Fe, N.M./Santa Fe Prep) earned a solid 8-5 victory over senior Lauren Blanchard (Agawam, Mass./Agawam) and Maddy Gemerek (Ballston Spa, N.Y./Ballston Spa) to cut the deficit to 2-1 heading into singles action.

The Mustangs continued its momentum into singles play as senior Ashley Woodside (Hampden, Maine/Hampden Academy) earned a 6-4, 6-1 win at the top of the lineup, while Aislinn O'Connor (New Fairfield, Conn./New Fairfield) won 6-2, 6-1 from number four singles to extend the lead to 4-1. First year Yashu Yang (Kunming City, China/Kunming Foreign Language) continued Colby-Sawyer's strong play, securing the match victory with a tough 7-5, 6-4 win from the two spot.

Mount Holyoke did not give up as first year Anya Gerasimova (Salem, Ore./West Salem) defeated Charger's senior Evelyn Miller (Smithfield, R.I./Homeschooled) in a hard-fought 7-6, 4-6, 1-0 (10-4) match. Senior captain Katherine Schumacher (Baldwinsville, N.Y./Charles W. Baker) also had a tough battle at number five singles as she earned a 6-4, 1-6, 1-0 (10-8) triumph over Gemerek to cut the deficit to 5-3. Despite a tough effort from Maran at the bottom of the lineup, Blanchard earned the final victory to cement a 6-3 match victory.

Both teams will be back in action at 8am tomorrow as Colby-Sawyer will face the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, while Mount Holyoke will face Texas-Tyler.