SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. - The Tufts University squash team jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead and held strong for an 8-1 victory over Mount Holyoke College on Tuesday at the Kendall Squash Courts. With the win, the #22 Jumbos improve to 3-0 on the year, while the #28 Lyons slip to 2-6 overall.
Tufts opened strong, grabbing the 1-0 advantage from the ninth spot as sophomore Isabella Libassi (Greenwich, Conn./Convent of the Sacred Heart) bested Lyons junior Emma Lynch (Milton, Mass./Beaver Country Day School), 11-1, 11-3, 11-3.
In the eighth position, Tufts first year Katherine Deveaux (Simsbury, Conn./Westminster) posted an 11-4, 11-4, 11-8 victory over MHC junior Kirina Gair-MacMichael (West Hartford, Conn./Ethel Walker School), while at the fourth position, sophomore Sahana Karthik (Singapore/United World College of South East Asia) bested Lyons sophomore Lessly Portillo (New Haven, Conn./Hill Regional Career Magnet), 11-4, 11-4, 12-10.
Tufts sophomore Chista Irani (Mumbai, India/The Taft School) pushed it to a 4-0 advantage for the visitors at the sixth position, defeating MHC senior captain Amanda Lee (Windsor, Conn./Ethel Walker School), 11-6, 11-4, 11-5. The Jumbos then went up 5-0 behind first year Claire Davidson's (Newport, R.I./Portsmouth Abbey) 12-10, 11-5, 11-6 victory over MHC sophomore Ragini Ghose (Dubai/Millfield School) at two.
Sophomore Sinclair Meggitt (Princeton, N.J./Lawrenceville School) earned an 11-6, 11-3, 11-3 win against MHC senior Syry Mitchell (Amherst, Mass./Amherst Regional) at seven, while junior Lauren Banner (Wayne, Pa./Conestoga) pushed it to a 7-0 advantage with an 11-3, 11-3, 11-8 victory over senior Rose Minichiello (Collinsville, Conn./Collinsville) at five.
From the third position, first year Catherine Shanahan (Cincinnati, Ohio/Seven Hills) bested senior captain Allison Shilling (New Canaan, Conn./Choate Rosemary Hall), 11-7, 11-4, 11-3 for the 8-0 advantage.
The Lyons struck back in the final match, which saw MHC junior Brandy Williamson (New York, N.Y./Thurgood Marshall Academy) and Tufts sophomore Hannah Burns (Locust Valley, N.Y./Phillips Academy Andover) square off. Locked in a 1-1 score, Williamson edged out a 12-10 victory in the third. Williamson sealed the victory in four with an 11-7 margin. The final line score was 11-7, 8-11, 12-10, 11-7.
Mount Holyoke is now idle until Friday, January 6 when it travels to Williamstown, Mass., to face Williams (12pm) and Bowdoin (2pm). Tufts is back in action on Saturday when it heads to Clinton, N.Y., playing Hamilton (2pm) and St. Lawrence (4pm).
