SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. - It was a tough afternoon of action for the Mount Holyoke College squash team as they shouldered 8-1 losses to Bates College and Tufts University at the Kendall Courts. The 19th-ranked Bobcats improve to 7-6 on the season, the 17th-ranked Jumbos are now 8-4, while the 25th-ranked Lyons are now 13-6 overall.
Senior captain Tanishka Sachidanand (Karnataka, India/Canadian International School) and Bates' Molly Brooks finished first from the eighth spot as Brooks came away with an 11-1, 11-4, 11-2 victory. At four, Katherine Manternach bested Lyons' rookie Maeve Watts-Roy (Louisville, Ky./DuPont Manual), 11-4, 13-11, 11-5, while from six, Natasha Jones got the best of sophomore Jennifer Mbah (Jamaica Plain, Mass./John D. O'Bryant School of Math and Science), 11-9, 11-4, 11-3.
At nine, Katie Bull posted an 11-6, 11-6, 11-9 victory over MHC sophomore Emma Robson (Amherst, Mass./Amherst Regional), while the second spot on the ladder proved to be a battle. Bates' Kristyna Alexova and MHC's Nadindhi Udangawa (Colombo, Sri Lanka/Colombo International School) traded games and headed into the fifth in a 2-all draw. Alexova came out the victor, grabbing the final game for a 9-11, 13-11, 5-11, 11-9, 11-8 match score.
Next off was the fifth spot on the ladder as Maeve O'Brien posted an 11-3, 11-6, 11-7 victory over senior captain Lessly Portillo (New Haven, Conn./Hill Regional Career Magnet). At three, senior captain Ragini Ghose (Dubai/Millfield School) shouldered an 11-5, 11-2, 11-8 loss to Victoria Arjoon, while from seven sophomore Kuzivakwashe Madungwe (Harare, Zimbabwe/Arundel School) suffered a tough 13-11, 11-6, 11-2 loss to Natalie Bachman.
Rookie Mihiliya Kalahe Arachchige (Panadura, Sri Lanka/Sirimavo Bandaranaike Vidyalaya Colombo 7) wrapped up the match from the top of the ladder as she powered her way to an 11-9, 11-8, 14-12 win over Bates' Luca Polgar.
In the second match against Tufts, Ghose shouldered a tough 11-2, 11-3, 11-2 loss to Julie Yeung at two, followed by a loss from Portillo against Zarena Jafry at four, 11-5, 11-7, 11-2. At six, Madungwe suffered a tough 11-1, 11-2, 11-4 defeat against Rachel Windreich, while Robson fell 11-2, 11-6, 11-2 to Chloe Kantor from eight.
Sophomore Genesis Lara Granados (Bronx, N.Y./DeWitt Clinton) battled against Christa Irani at nine, suffering a tough 11-7, 8-11, 11-2, 11-2 loss, while the Lyons earned their lone win from the top of the ladder as Kalahe Arachchige defeated Claire Davidson, 12-10, 11-4, 11-1.
Tufts' Catherine Shanahan bested Mbah by an 11-2, 11-4, 11-2 margin at five, while from seven Diya Sanghi defeated Sachidanand, 11-8, 11-5, 11-9. The final match saw Meghan Chen post and 11-7, 11-7, 11-5 win over Watts-Roy at three to wrap up the win for the Jumbos.
Mount Holyoke is now idle until February 6 when it hosts Amherst at the Kendall Courts at 6pm.
