SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. - The Simmons College women's tennis team was defeated by host Mount Holyoke College, 9-0, this afternoon at the MHC Tennis Courts in South Hadley, Mass. The Sharks fall to 0-3 following their first road match of the season, while the Lyons improve to 3-0.
Simmons most contested match of the day came at number two doubles where the first year tandem of Nickie Nguyen (Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam/Saint Joseph Prep (Mass.)) and Marissa Johnson (Norwell, Mass.) took five games off of Mount Holyoke junior Ishita Tibrewal (Kolkata, India) and first year Catherine Peabody (San Francisco, Calif.) in an 8-5 loss.
The Lyons opened the doubles action with an 8-0 win in the first flight as sophomore Ayame Yazawa (Tokyo, Japan and first year Ching-Ching Huang (Lukang Township, Taiwan) bested the Sharks first year duo of Jessica Schroedl (Staatsburg, N.Y.) and junior Olivia Lakes (Dorchester, Mass.). Mount Holyoke took a 2-0 match lead when seniors Amy Chen (Hilo, Hawaii) and Alexa Colas (Teaneck, N.J.) defeated junior Mary Matthews (Wakefield, R.I.) and sophomore Michelle Medici (South Portland, Maine)., 8-3, at number three doubles.
In singles action, Chen was a 6-0, 6-0 winner for the Lyons over Matthews at sixth singles to give the hosts a 4-0 lead. Huang earned the deciding point for Mount Holyoke from the second singles spot, with a 6-1, 6-0 win against Nguyen. Yazawa was victorious at first singles for the Lyons against Schroedl, posting a 6-1, 6-0 score, while Timbrewal bested Johnson for Mount Holyoke in the third flight by a 6-1, 6-1 decision.
Peabody grabbed a victory for the Lyons at fourth singles with a 6-0, 6-0 decision against Lakes and Mount Holyoke sophomore Madison Rosen (Portland, Ore.) earned a 6-2, 6-0 win over first year Mai Driesen (Fayetteville, N.Y.) in the fifth flight.
The Sharks returns to the courts on Saturday, September 10 when they host Colby College at 4:00 p.m. at the Daly Athletics Complex as part of the college's ribbon-cutting event for the official opening of the complex. The Lyons continue their homestand on Saturday as well when they welcome Emerson College for a 12:00 p.m. dual match.
