SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. -- The Mount Holyoke College tennis team won five out of six singles matches, including the last three of the night in defeating Wheaton (Mass.) College 6-3 in a NEWMAC match Tuesday at the MHC Indoor Tennis Courts.
Mount Holyoke (9-5, 3-2 NEWMAC) defeated its rival Lyons from Wheaton (9-5, 3-2 NEWMAC) by a 6-3 score for the third straight season.
Wheaton took a 2-1 lead through doubles play, even after junior Annika Chai (London, England) and sophomore Kirat Kaur (Chandigarh, India) started things off with an 8-1 win at No. 1 doubles over Mareike Mueller and Laila Haraj-Sai. Kaur, making a welcome return to action after missing two matches with injury, went on to defeat Kara Greenlee 6-1, 6-0 at second singles. Chai defeated Mueller at No. 1 singles by the same convincing score.
Wheaton's Taylor Wilson and Asia-Leigh Hollis topped sophomores Kate Vavra (Weston, Mass.) and Kennedy Bagley-Fortner (Montclair, N.J.) 8-3 at No. 3 doubles, while Alissa Ortiz and Greenlee defeated sophomore Cal Smith (Bridgewater, Mass.) and first-year Rachel Allen (Mary Esther, Fla.) in a tiebreaker at second doubles, temporariliy putting Mount Holyoke at a a deficit going into singles play.
After Chai and Kaur took care of business at the top two singles spots, Wheaton's Hollis defeated Vavra at fifth singles to tie the score at 3-3. Sophomore Natali Kostadinovic (Pirot, Serbia) returned the lead to Mount Holyoke with a 7-5, 6-4 win at No. 6 singles over Izzy Kruse.
Left on the court were Allen facing Wilson at third singles and Smith taking on Haraj-Sai at fourth singles. Smith's grinding 7-6(1), 5-7, 7-5 victory sealed the victory for Mount Holyoke, and over 4 1/2 hours after the match began, Allen finished off Wilson by a 2-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 score.
Mount Holyoke 6, Wheaton (Mass.) 3
April 16, 2024 at MHC Indoor Courts (South Hadley, Mass.)
Doubles
1. Annika Chai/Kirat Kaur (MHC) def. Mareike Mueller/Laila Haraj-Sai (W) 8-1
2. Alissa Ortiz/Kara Greenlee (W) def. Cal Smith/Rachel Allen (MHC) 8-7(2)
3. Taylor Wilson/Asia-Leigh Hollis (W) def. Kate Vavra/Kennedy Bagley-Fortner (MHC) 8-3
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2
Singles
1. Chai (MHC) def. Mueller (W) 6-1, 6-0
2. Kaur (MHC) def. Greenlee (W) 6-1, 6-0
3. Allen (MHC) def. Wilson (W) 2-6, 7-6(5), 6-4
4. Smith (MHC) def. Haraj-Sai (W) 7-6(1), 5-7, 7-5
5. Hollis (W) def. Vavra (MHC) 6-2, 6-2
6. Nina Kostadinovic (MHC) def. Izzy Kruse (W) 7-5, 6-4
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 5, 6, 4, 3
