Kirat Kaur ‘26, above, won her sixth straight singles win against Emerson College. (Kaur is a member of Mount Holyoke News.)
Photo Courtesy of Mount Holyoke Athletics.
BY ZELLIE CALAVITA ’26
STAFF WRITER
Mount Holyoke College Tennis was hosted by Emerson College this past weekend, where the Lyons won 7-2, improving their overall record to 8-3 and their New England Men’s and Women’s Conference record to 2-1.
“I think the team played great today, especially since today's match was pretty cold and the wind was very strong. So as a team, we adjusted well to those elements,” Kennedy Bagley-Fortner ’26 said in an email to Mount Holyoke News.
The match began with doubles play, starting with Annika Chai ’25 and Kirat Kaur ’26 winning 8-2 at first doubles. Cal Smith ’26 and Natali Kostadinovic ’26 followed with an 8-3 win in the second doubles, while Kate Vavra ’26 and Bagley-Fortner completed the Lyons’ 3-0 doubles sweep with a score of 8-2 at third doubles.
Kaur collected the first singles win at No.2 singles by scoring 6-1, 6-3, which also secured her sixth consecutive singles win so far this season. Chai finished second at No.1 singles with a 6-4, 2-6, 6-0 win. Vavra and Kostadinovic also picked up wins with scores of 6-7(3), 6-3, [10-8] and 7-6(5), 6-3, respectively. Both Smith and Bagley-Fortner’s hard-fought singles matches ultimately ended in points for Emerson.
“We had a teammate out of the doubles and the singles [lineup] (due to injury), and the team stepped up and competed well!” Coach Aldo Santiago said.
Rachel Allen ’27, who typically plays third singles and second doubles with Smith, was still able to contribute to the team’s win despite her injury.
“I have a very positive and hopeful outlook on the season,” Bagley-Fortner said. “The season just started and we are playing and competing very well. We still have a lot of areas where we can improve, but I'm excited to see how we progress as a team.”
The Lyons have been dominating on the court in recent weeks. Not only is this their fifth win in six matches, but earlier this week, Smith and Allen received NEWMAC Doubles Team of the Week honors for their wins at the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez (6-3), Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras (6-1) and against Springfield College (5-4). The pair have been 6-1 since October 1 but unfortunately could not compete together at Emerson due to Allen’s injury.
Mount Holyoke Tennis is next set to host Smith College, another NEWMAC member, on Saturday, April 13.
Editor’s Note: Cal Smith ’26, Kate Vavra ’26, Rachel Allen ’27 and Kirat Kaur ’26 are members of the Mount Holyoke News staff. Kate Vavra is also a Sports section editor.