LEWISTON, Maine -- The Mount Holyoke College tennis team played its toughest opponent of the year thus far on Wednesday evening, falling 9-0 at Bates College in Merrill Gymnasium.

The Lyons' record dropped to 2-2 overall and 1-1 against Division III teams. Bates (3-5) broke a three-match losing streak with the win.

Bates swept doubles play to begin the match. Joanna Atwater and Ally Friedman combined to defeat Mount Holyoke sophomore captain Annika Chai (London, England) and first-year Jaskirat Kaur (Mohali, India) 8-1 at first doubles. First-years Kate Vavra (Weston, Mass.) and first-year Kennedy Bagley-Fortner (Montclair, N.J.) lost 8-2 at third doubles against Ava Lyon and Bella Saul, while at second doubles the Lyons' duo of senior captain Shweta Kiran Cavale (Chennai, India) and first-year Cal Smith (Bridgewater, Mass.) fell 8-3 to Bates' Laura Littlefield and Grace Kennedy.

Chai produced the most competitive match for the Lyons in singles play, in a 6-0, 6-3 loss to Friedman at the No. 1 position. 

Mount Holyoke will host Connecticut College in another non-conference match on Wednesday, March 22 at 4pm.