SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. - Action at the 2016 New England Women's Intercollegiate Tennis Tournament got underway on Friday at the courts of Mount Holyoke and Smith Colleges. Through the opening round, the Lyons had a solid effort, including two duos advancing into the main action of their respective draws.
In the B draw, MHC senior captain Alexa Colas and first year Catherine Peabody posted a clean sweep. Colas grabbed a 6-1, 6-4 singles win over Brandeis's Sarah Gresman, while Peabody notched a hard-fought 6-1, 7-6, 7-5 victory over Arian Ishaq. The pair then combined to best the Brandeis duo in doubles, 8-2.
Colas and Peabody will continue in the championship round of the B draw on Saturday at Smith College, facing off against Amherst's Camilla Trapness and Maddie Dewire, who are the second-ranked team in the draw.
Also victorious on Friday for the Lyons was the duo of senior captain Amy Chen and sophomore Clara Wang in the C draw. Chen notched a 6-4, 6-1 win over Colby's Annie Morris, while Wang shouldered a 6-0, 6-3 loss to Aleks Piibe. MHC advanced with a nail-biting 9-7 victory in doubles action.
The pair continues in main action of the C draw on Saturday at MHC, facing the winner of Friday's match between Trinity and Western New England, which was played at Smith. Also in C draw action for the Lyons was juniors Ishita Tibrewal and Katherine Schumacher, along with sophomore Madison Rosen.
Tibrewal posted a 6-4, 6-1 win over Gordon's Kaelyn Hall, while Rosen shouldered a 6-3, 6-0 loss to Maddie Berry. The Fighting Scots duo went on to an 8-2 victory over Tibrewal and Schumacher. MHC slides into the consolation round of the C draw - which will take place on their home courts on Saturday - where they will face the loser of the match between Colby-Sawyer and Smith, which took place this afternoon in Northampton.
Rounding out the action on Friday was sophomore Ayame Yazawa and first year Ching-Ching Huang, who squared off against Brandeis in the A draw of this year's tournament. Yazawa shouldered a 6-2, 2-1 loss to Haley Cohen, forced to retired the singles match, while Huang fell 6-1, 6-2 to Sophia He.
The duo suffered a 1-0 loss to Brandeis' pair in doubles, as Yazawa was once again forced to retire. MHC slips into the consolation round of the A draw and will face the loser of Friday's match at Smith between Amherst and Nichols. That match will take place at Smith on Saturday.
Matches at both locations will kick off at 9am on Saturday morning and run throughout the day.
