BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott women's tennis team fell to Mount Holyoke College, 6-3, in its first match of the day before the Gulls rebounded against Smith College, 8-1, to complete their non-conference doubleheader slate in Western, Mass. on Saturday afternoon.
MATCH ONE – Mount Holyoke 6, Endicott 3
Endicott produced a 2-1 advantage at the conclusion of doubles with victories at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions.
Haley Barnett (Marlboro, N.J.) and Margot Andreasen (Portland, Maine) notched an 8-6 win in the No. 2 slot, while Alexi Losano (Sagus, Mass.) and Jamie Zompa (Marlborough, Mass.) posted an 8-3 win at No. 3.
Mount Holyoke (14-9) saw its first doubles pair of Ayame Yazawa (Tokyo, Japan) and Margaux Holloschutz (Franklin Lakes, N.J.) best Maxine Bergstein (Hingham, Mass.) and Mackenzie Rhodes (Rye, N.H.) by an 8-3 score to conclude doubles play.
In singles action, Holloschutz made it a 2-2 match with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Andreasen in the second flight. Yazawa pushed it to a 3-2 advantage a short time later as she won 6-3, 6-0 over Barnett at one.
Amy Chen (Hilo, Hawaii) went on to increase the lead to 4-2 for Mount Holyoke after recording a 6-3, 6-1 victory against Lauren Rahr (Waterford, Conn.) in the six spot.
With three other matches still on court, the match was still tight, but the deciding point came on court five as Cai grabbed a 7-5, 6-3 win over Bergstein to make it a 5-2 score. Endicott grabbed a point back at three as Reilly Fitzgibbons (Killingworth, Conn.) battled back for a 2-6, 7-5, 1-0 (10-4) victory over Tibrewal.
Wang sealed the 6-3 win for Mount Holyoke at five, coming from behind for a 5-7, 6-3, 1-0 (10-5) win against Gillian Freter (Scituate, Mass.).
MATCH TWO – Endicott 8, Smith 1
The Gulls set the tone again in doubles play, but this time came away with a 3-0 lead to begin the match behind a different lineup versus the Pioneers (4-15).
Bridget Cott (Wilton, Conn.) and Losano claimed an 8-0 win at No. 3 to get things going, while Rhodes and Bergstein turned in an 8-3 triumph at No. 1 to make it a 2-0 contest. Fitzgibbons and Rahr went on to close out the sweep in doubles with a gritty 8-6 victory in the second flight.
In singles play, Smith turned in a 6-0, 6-0 win at No. 2 to make the match 3-1, but Rhodes responded in the No. 5 slot with a 6-0, 6-0 victory over her own to make it 4-1.
Fitzgibbons then went on to clinch the match at No. 3 (6-3, 6-0), before Freter (No. 4, 6-2, 6-0), Barnett (No. 1, 6-3, 0-6, 10-7), and Zompa (No. 6, 7-5, 7-6) took home their matches in respective order.
TOP QUOTE
"It was an awesome day for the women's squad. We had a great battle against Mount Holyoke and then stepped up to get the win against Smith," said Endicott women's tennis head coach Jeremy Howard. "It felt great to get back out there competing after a six month break between matches. The team is certainly excited that NCAA's is less than four weeks away after stepping on the court earlier today."
#OhHeyThatsNice
- The Gulls improved to 5-2 on the road this season with their win over Smith.
- Endicott has registered 13 or more wins in a season for five straight years.
WHAT'S NEXT
Endicott (13-3) hosts Simmons next Saturday at 9 a.m. For the latest on Endicott Athletics, follow the Gulls on social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
