SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. - The Mount Holyoke College tennis team sent its senior class off in style on Tuesday, concluding the regular season with an 8-1 win over Smith College in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action. With the victory, the Lyons move to 11-9 overall and 4-4 in conference play. The Pioneers slip to 1-10 with a 1-7 NEWMAC mark.
Next up for the Lyons is the NEWMAC Tournament, which will see MHC make its 15th consecutive appearance in the playoffs. Mount Holyoke will be the fourth-seed in the tournament, which begins on Saturday. The Lyons will host fifth-seeded Wheaton at 12pm in South Hadley.
Tuesday's match against Smith saw a strong opening statement in doubles as junior Catherine Peabody (San Francisco, Calif./Lick-Wilmerding HS) and first year Annissa Aamoum (Dulles, Va./IMG Academy) earned an 8-1 victory over junior Kara Van Allen (Kalamazoo, Mich./Mattawa) and first year Elsa Hillis (Georgetown, Tex./Georgetown) at two. The ones were next off court as senior Ayame Yazawa (Tokyo, Japan/St. Johnsbury Academy) and junior Ching-Ching Huang (Lukang Township, Taiwan/Taipei Municipal First Girls' HS) posted an 8-1 win against Pioneers' senior Joanna Kim (Chicago, Ill./Northside College Prep) and sophomore Allison Ahern (Minneapolis, Minn./The Blake School).
Rounding out the doubles play to give MHC the 3-0 advantage was senior Joy Maran (Santa Fe, N.M./Santa Fe Prep) and first year Hannah Middleton (Stonington, Conn./Stonington) at three as they earned an 8-2 win over sophomore Yena Li (Shenzhen, China/Stoneleigh-Burnham School) and first year Betsy Hillier (Cohasset, Mass./Concord Academy).
Singles action opened with a victory at one as Yazawa bested Ahern, 6-2, 6-1. Aamoum sealed the match victory at 5-0 from four, posting a 6-1, 6-2 win against Li, while Peabody notched a 6-2, 6-2 win over Van Allen from three. Two's were next off court as Huang defeated Kim, 6-2, 6-1, while at five, senior Madison Rosen (Portland, Ore./Grant) gritted out a 7-5, 6-3 win against Hillis. Wrapping up the match was senior captain Clara Wang (Madison, Conn./Daniel Hand), who unfortunately shouldered a 6-4, 6-3 loss against Hillier to conclude the match and give the Pioneers their lone point.
The Lyons celebrated their four seniors in a pre-match ceremony, honoring Yazawa, Maran, Rosen and Wang for all they have done for the program.
