BY CAITLIN LYNCH '20
Mount Holyoke Tennis saw an action-packed few days this past weekend, hosting Bryn Mawr College, Smith College, Vassar College and Wellesley College for the two-day Seven Sisters tournament. The Lyons defeated Bryn Mawr and Smith but fell to Vassar and Wellesley, finishing third overall in the tournament.
The tournament opened up on Saturday, April 8 on the tennis courts in the Kendall Field House with Mount Holyoke facing Bryn Mawr. Sweeping singles play for the Lyons were Ching-Ching Huang ’20 and Catherine Peabody ’20 with 6-0, 6-0 wins and Katie Schumacher ’18 with a 6-1, 6-1 win. In doubles competition, captains Alexa Colas ’17 and Amy Chen ’17 teamed up for a 6-0, 6-3 win and Ishita Tibrewal ’18 and Clara Wang ’19 joined up to win 6-0, 6-3.
After defeating Bryn Mawr 5-0, Mount Holyoke took on Wellesley. In singles, Peabody and Ayame Yazawa ’19 saw 6-4, 6-0 and 6-2, 6-4 victories while Huang fell to Wellesley sophomore Justine Huang, 6-2, 6-4. In doubles play, the Colas/Chen duo fell to Wellesley senior captains Carina Chen and Andjela Stojkovic, 6-2, 6-0, while Tibrewal and Wang lost to Wellesley first year Selina Peng and sophomore Sojin Ki after three rounds, 4-6, 7-5, 10-5. These results culminated in a 3-2 win for Wellesley, moving Mount Holyoke to 1-1 for the day.
Also on Saturday, Wellesley defeated Smith 4-1, Vassar defeated Bryn Mawr 5-0 and Vassar defeated Smith 5-0.
To start the action on Sunday, the Lyons faced the Smith Pioneers and saw a 5-0 victory. In singles play, Yazawa won 6-4, 6-4, Huang won 6-0, 6-0 and Peabody saw a 6-4, 6-0 victory. In doubles, Colas/ Chen beat Smith 6-0, 6-3 while Tibrewal/Wang saw a 6-3, 6-4 win.
Following that, Mount Holyoke took on Vassar and fell 4-1. In singles play, Yazawa and Peabody lost their matches to Vassar junior Kate Christensen and senior captain Connie Yoo, respectively, while Huang saw a 6-1, 6-0 victory. In doubles play, both Colas/Chen and Tibrewal/Wang lost to Vassar pairs of first year Tara Edwards with sophomore Morgane Flournoy and junior Dasha Ivenitsky with first year Vista Grinde.
Two Mount Holyoke players, Huang and Peabody, were named to the All-Tournament Team. Also named to the team were Vassar’s Edwards, Flournoy, Ivenitsky, Grinde and Yoo, Wellesley’s Chen and Stojkovic, Smith senior Margaret Anne Smith, Bryn Mawr first year Sydney Kim and Bryn Mawr junior Lizzie Siegle.
Vassar won the 2017 Seven Sisters title (4-0), followed by Wellesley (3-1), Mount Holyoke (2-2), Smith (1-3) and Bryn Mawr (0-4). “I think at the Seven Sisters tournament, everybody on the team played their very best,” said Chen. “It was also a blast competing at our highest level on our own courts.” Schumacher added, “We played with a lot of heart and competed well.”
Lyons tennis returns to action on Thursday, April 13 at Gordon College.