SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. – The Mount Holyoke College tennis team shouldered a tough loss at home to Bates College on Saturday by a 6-3 margin. The win gives the Cougars a 4-1 overall record, while the Lyons fall to 3-4.
Action kicked off with doubles action as Bates sophomore Lauren Hernandez (Chester, N.J./West Morris Mendham) and first year Hannah Sweeney (Franklin, Mass./Franklin) gave the Bobcats a quick lead with an 8-2 victory at first doubles. MHC Sophomore Catherine Peabody (San Francisco, Calif./Lick-Wilmerding HS) and first year Anya Gerasimova (Salem, Ore./West Salem) leveled the match with a strong 8-4 victory over senior Maisie Silverman (Brunswick, Maine/Brunswick) and junior Hannah Londoner (Westport, Conn./Notre Dame) to make it 1-1. Bates then grabbed an 8-2 victory at third doubles to give the Bobcats a 2-1 advantage heading into singles action.
The Lyons once again evened the match at the top of the lineup as sophomore Ching-Ching Huang (Lukang Township, Taiwan/Taipei Municipal) earned a 5-2 win in the first game, before earning the match win by default. Knotted up at two-all, Bates began to gain momentum as Sweeney took the lead back with a 6-0, 6-1 victory from number two singles, and Washington won 6-4, 6-4 from six to give the Bobcats a 4-2 lead.
In what would be the match clincher for Bates at number four singles, Gerasimova forced a match tie-breaker in the first game, but eventually fell 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 to give the Bobcats a 5-2 advantage. The Lyons continued to fight hard as Peabody earned a dominating 6-0, 6-2 victory over sophomore Suzanne Elfman (Longmeadow, Mass./Longmeadow) from third singles to cut the deficit to 4-3. Londoner earned the final victory for the Bocats to give Bates a 6-3 match victory.
Today's match benefited the Coaches vs Cancer campaign. The Mount Holyoke team has raised a total of $1,130 so far. You can donate HERE today.
Mount Holyoke will have almost two weeks off before heading to Orlando for a trio of matches against Colby-Sawyer College (3/13), Texas-Tyler (3/14), and Haverford College (3/15). Bates will head to the DMV during spring break to face Case Western Reserve (3/16), Swarthmore (3/17), and Washington and Lee (3/18).
