South Hadley, Mass. - January 25, 2020 - The Mount Holyoke College squash team took on three opponents at the MHC Squash Courts on Saturday afternoon as part of the Pioneer Valley Invitational, hosted between Mount Holyoke College and Amherst College.
The Lyons went 1-2 on the day, defeating Bard College but falling to No. 20 Wesleyan and No. 24 Connecticut College, which were both ranked in the latest College Squash Association (CSA) National Poll.
No. 20 Wesleyan 8, Mount Holyoke College 1
Mount Holyoke College's Mihiliya Methsarani (Panadura, Sri Lanka) took home a victory at the No. 1 spot, but the Lyons fell to visiting Wesleyan, 8-1, to open their play in the Pioneer Valley Inviational on Saturday.
Methsarani made quick work of Aditi Prasad (Mumbai, India), defeating her 11-4, 11-6, 11-7, but Jennifer Mbah (Jamaica Plain, Mass.) fell at No. 2, 11-4, 11-5, 11-6 and Giselle Cabrera (Bronx, N.Y.) lost at No. 3 11-5, 11-1, 11-2. Emma Robson (Amherst, Mass.) dropped a 11-1, 11-0, 11-3 decision at No. 4, while at No. 5, Genesis Lara Granados (Bronx, N.Y.) fell 11-4, 11-4, 11-2.
The Cardinals would prevail through the final four matches to escape with an 8-1 victory to start the tournament.
Mount Holyoke College 8, Bard College 0
The Lyons picked up an 8-0 win over Bard College in their second match of the day. At No. 1, Mbah won 11-6, 11-4, 11-3, while Cabrera was victorious at No. 2, 7-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-5. At No. 3, Robson won 11-8, 11-4, 11-6, while at No. 4, Lara Granados prevailed 11-8, 11-4, 11-5.
At No. 5, Nicole Lara Granados (Bronx, N.Y.) fell 11-3, 11-6, 11-3, while at No. 6, Janiqua Davis (New Haven, Conn.) won 12-10, 11-6, 7-11, 15-17, 11-7. Rounding out the match, Anna Braman (Wellesley, Mass.) won 11-2, 11-7, 11-1, while at No. 8, Jing Xu (Hangzhou, China) won 12-10, 11-3, 6-11, 11-1.
No. 24 Connecticut College 8, Mount Holyoke College 1
Mount Holyoke College rounded out the day with a loss to Connecticut College, 8-1. At No. 1, Methsarani was successful once again as she prevailed 11-4, 11-3, 11-1. At No. 2, Mbah fell in a hard-fought match, 11-2, 11-5, 10-12, 11-5, while at No. 3, Cabrera dropped a 11-0, 11-2, 11-4 decision.
Robson fought hard at No. 4 but fell 11-8, 11-4, 11-3, while at No. 5, Genesis Lara Granados fell 11-4, 11-6, 11-4. Nicole Lara Granados lost at No. 6 11-1, 11-2, 11-3, while at No. 8, Braman dropped an 11-1, 11-3, 11-2 decision. Rounding out the day, Xu fell 11-6, 11-0, 11-3.
Up next, Mount Holyoke College will return to the MHC Squash Courts on Sunday, January 26 and will take on No. 23 Hamilton College at 10 a.m., followed by a match versus No. 12 Brown at 1:30 p.m.
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