NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The Mount Holyoke College squash team was in action on Saturday, traveling to Yale University for a pair of neutral site matches. The Lyons shouldered a 9-0 loss to #20 St. Lawrence University, while suffering a tight 5-4 loss to #29 Connecticut College. MHC is now 2-11 on the season.
Against the Saints, senior captain Amanda Lee fell in action to SLU's Cassie Christopher at eight by an 11-6, 11-4, 11-4 margin. At six, graduate student Rose Minichiello shouldered an 11-7, 11-5, 11-6 loss to Katie Walsh, while at four, sophomore Lessly Portillo and Alex Infante battled to five. Locked in a 2-2 tie, Infante was able to get the victory with an 11-8 win. The final line score was 11-5, 4-11, 11-6, 8-11, 11-8.
Another tight battle played out from the second position as Lyons' sophomore Ragini Ghose squared off against Zoe Kagan. Despite a win in the second game, Ghose could not hold off Kagan, who won 12-10, 7-11, 11-2, 11-4.
In the odd matches, the Lyons saw senior Tynx Taneja shoulder a tough 11-5, 11-4, 11-1 loss to Abigail Smith, while from the seventh position, junior Emily Chang fell against Alexandra Brazo, 8-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-7.
From five, SLU's Lizzy Lasusa bested Tanishka Sachidanand, 11-7, 11-3, 11-3, while from three, senior captain Allison Shilling fell to Emily Terry, 11-7, 11-4, 11-9. Rounding out the match was junior Brandy Williamson at one, falling to Jillian Baker, 11-5, 11-2, 11-7.
In the match against the Camels, the Lyons saw three of the nine matches push to five games with the four wins of the match coming at the top of the lineup. Portillo bested CC's Margaret Davey at four by an 11-8, 11-8, 11-8 margin, while Shilling defeated Davis Lemay, 11-4, 11-3, 11-8 at three.
From the second postion, Ghose won a hard-fought match against Conn's Adrienne Sieverding. After winning each of the first two games, Ghose surrendered a pair to tie the match. In the fifth, Ghose powered through, grabbing the win with a final line score of 11-6, 11-7, 9-11, 8-11, 11-3.
Rounding out the victories was Williamson at the top of the lineup against Mawa Ballo. After falling in the opening game, Williamson came back with 13-11 and 11-1 wins. Ballo countered with an 11-8 win to tie, but the Lyons junior posted an 11-8 win to take the match.
At five, Sachidanand also had a strong effort on the day despite the loss, facing off against Anne Holly. Despite an 11-9 opening game win, Sachidanand went down 2-1 to Holly before battling back for an 11-5 win. Holly would come back to win in five with a final line score of 9-11, 11-7, 13-11, 5-11, 11-5.
Mount Holyoke returns to action next weekend when it returns home to host matches in the Pioneer Valley Invitational. The Lyons will take on Colby College at the MHC Courts on Saturday at 9am, followed by a match against Wesleyan at 12pm.
