SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. (Feb. 12, 2013) - Mount Holyoke College got victories at every position on its way to a 9-0 victory over Smith College in squash action on Tuesday evening. With the win, the Lyons concluded their regular season schedule and head into this weekend's CSA National Championships with a 9-8 record, while Smith carries a 2-13 mark into Nationals.
MHC got several quick victories in the opening rounds of the dual meet, capturing the second, fourth and sixth flights in fine fashion. Junior Shaheen Madraswala (Mumbai, India/J.B. Petit) rolled to an 11-3, 11-2, 11-7 mark over Smith senior Eunice Zhao (Las Vegas, Nev./Liberty), while senior captain Kathryn Brummer (Massapequa Park, N.Y./Long Island Lutheran) claimed an 11-5, 11-4, 11-2 victory in the fourth position against first year Szilvi Kiss (Reutte, Austria/Cascia Hall Prep School).
After an 11-6, 11-5, 11-5 win by MHC sophomore Xianger Fei (Hangzhou, China/Hangzhou Foreign Language School) over first year Haruka Shimoto (Tokyo, Japan/International School of the Sacred Heart), Lyons first year Catherine Ryan (Longmeadow, Mass./Longmeadow) gutted out a 6-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-7 victory against Pioneers sophomore Dipshika Mahajan (Gaborone, Botswana/Marupula) in the eighth position.
Mount Holyoke continued to cruise in the odd matches as first year Sherouk Khefagy (Cairo, Egypt/International School of Choueifat) defeated sophomore Jacqueline Zhou (Singapore) by an 11-5, 11-8, 11-0 margin in the first position.
Junior Elyse Taylor (Mission, Texas/Pomfret School (Conn.) made quick work of her match in the fifth position, defeating Jana Chan (San Francisco, Calif./The Bay School) by an 11-3, 11-1, 11-1 margin, while first years Susannah Bonn (Spring House, Pa./William Penn Charter) and Anna Hartman (Montpelier, Vt./Montpelier) won their respective matches in the seventh (11-6, 11-5, 11-3) and ninth (11-2, 11-1, 11-5) flights, respectively.
Rounding out the outstanding efforts for the Lyons was sophomore Samantha Rosado (Meriden, Conn./F.T. Maloney), who battled to a 13-11 win in the opening set against sophomore Vivian Lee (Seoul, South Korea/Yongsan International School of Seoul). She then won by an 11-1 margin in the second set before battling to another 13-11 mark in the third for the win.
The Lyons, who are ranked 20th in the latest CSA National Poll, return to action on Friday when they take on 21st ranked Drexel University at 9am at Yale University in the opening round of the CSA National Championships. MHC will be playing in the Walker Cup Draw and will move on the face the winner/loser of the other 9am match between 17th-ranked Wesleyan and 24th-ranked Wellesley.
Smith, which is ranked 36th in the national rankings, will battle 37th-ranked California on Saturday at 11am in the E Division Draw at Nationals. The Pioneers will then face 33rd-ranked Tufts at 6pm, also on Saturday.
Information for this weekend's National Championships can be found HERE.
