SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. – The Mount Holyoke College tennis team earned its fourth New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) victory of the season over Clark University on Tuesday. The 8-0 win lifts the Lyons record to 7-9 overall and 4-2 in conference action, while the Cougars slide to 3-10 overall and 1-5 in the NEWMAC.
Mount Holyoke jumped on the Cougars early with three strong victories in doubles action. The duo's of sophomore Ching-Ching Huang (Lukang Township, Taiwan/Taipei Municipal First Girls' HS) and senior Ishita Tibrewal (Kolkata, India/Modern High School for Girls), along with juniors Madison Rosen (Portland, Ore./Grant) and Joy Maran (Santa Fe, N.M./Santa Fe Prep) each had 8-0 victories. The Lyons leading duo of sophomore Catherine Peabody (San Francisco, Calif./Lick-Wilmerding HS) and first year Anya Gerasimova (Salem, Ore./West Salem) improved their record to 10-5 on the year with an 8-1 victory at #2 doubles to go up 3-0.
Gerasimava went on to defeat sophomore Anna Gates (North Scituate, R.I./Ponagaset) 6-0, 6-0 as action transitioned to #3 singles. Cementing the match victory with the Lyons fifth point was Maran, who took down Nguyen from #6 singles, 6-0, 6-3. MHC continued its momentum at the #5 court as senior Katherine Schumacher (Baldwinsville, N.Y./Charles W. Baker) defeated Clark's junior Maggie Tarbox (Lebanon, Conn./Lyman Memorial), 6-0, 6-3. Peabody was the next to finish as she upended first year Jillian Skulsky (Marshfield, Mass./Lewiston), by a clean 6-0, 6-0 margin.
At the top of the lineup, Huang won in a hard-fought match against Clark's senior Isabelle Long (Bellevue, Wash./Interlake). After Huang won the opening game, 6-3, Long went on to take the next one, 6-2 to force a tiebreaker. Huang fought hard and went on to win the tiebreaker and match, 6-3, 2-6, 1-0 (10-6). At #4 singles, Clark got its lone victory of the evening as first year Elizabeth Garfield (Cape Elizabeth, Maine/Cape Elizabeth) earned a tough 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 1-0 (10-6) win to end the match, 8-1.
Mount Holyoke closes out its home schedule on Saturday against Wellesley College at 12:00pm, while Clark is back on the road on Thursday to face Regis College at 4:00pm.
