SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. -- The Wheaton College (Mass.) women's tennis team was defeated by host Mount Holyoke College, 6-3, this afternoon in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference play at the MHC Field House in South Hadley, Mass. The Lyons fall to 3-8 overall and 0-1 in league play, while the MHC Lyons improve to 1-4 and 1-0.
Wheaton was led by sophomore Zoe West (Flushing, N.Y.) and first year Izzy Kruse (Woodstock, Ga.), who were both double-winners with victories in both singles and doubles play for the Lyons. The pair combined for an 8-3 win at number three singles over the MHC duo of senior Nikki Cheng (Honolulu, Hawaii) and first year Claudia Gonzalez-Vazquez (Cancun, Mexico). West had little trouble rolling to victory at sixth singles with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Gonzalez-Vazquez. Kruse battled to a three-set triumph at number five singles over Cheng. She opened the match with a 6-4 win, before Cheng pulled even after a 6-4 second set victory. Kruse closed out the match with an emphatic, 6-0, third set decision.
Mount Holyoke was the victor in the remaining matches. The tandem of first year Annika Chai (London, England) and senior Annissa Aamoum (Dulles, Va.) defeated Wheaton senior Miriam Galindo Cerrada (Madrid, Spain) and sophomore Mareike Mueller (Amesbury, Mass.), 8-4 at first doubles, before MHC junior Shweta Kiran Cavale (Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India) and senior Hannah Middleton (Pawcatuck, Conn.) took down Wheaton's senior duo of Katie Steinberg (Cumberland, Maine) and Alexis Acosta (Albuquerque, N.M.), 8-4 at the number two spot.
Chai delivered a 6-3, 6-3 win over Galindo Cerrada at number one singles, while Kiran Cavale downed Acosta at second singles by a score of 6-2, 6-3. Aamoum grinded out a win at number three singles over Steinberg 7-6, 6-1, while Middleton posted a 6-3, 6-2 win over Mueller at fourth singles.
Wheaton returns to the court on Tuesday, April 5 when it hosts NEWMAC rival Emerson College at 4:00 p.m., while Mount Holyoke hosts Simmons University on April 6 at 4:00 p.m.
