Contact: Mike O'Brien

AMHERST, Mass. – The No. 18 Amherst women's squash team split its pair of matches on Friday at the Pioneer Valley Invitational, hosted by Mount Holyoke, Smith and Amherst. The Jeffs swept Smith, 9-0, before dropping a 9-0 match to No. 9 Columbia.

The Jeffs (2-3) cruised to a decisive 9-0 win against Smith (0-4) in their first outing of the day, sweeping each match from the No. 1 position through the No. 9 spot.

Corri Johnson '16 and Lena Rice '14 highlighted the match for the Jeffs. Johnson claimed a 3-0 win on the No. 3 court, almost completing a full sweep. The sophomore won by scores of 11-0, 11-2 and 11-0. Rice, playing in the No. 4 position, allowed just one win in all three frames. She won 11-0, 11-1 and 11-0. 

It was all Columbia (4-2) in the second match of the day for Amherst, who dropped to 2-3 overall after the loss.

The Lions swept all but one match in which Arielle Lehman '15 nearly defeated Grace van Arkel '17. Dropping the first game, 11-6, Lehman retaliated and won two straight frames by scores of 11-8 and 12-10, respectively. However,  van Arkel prevailed and claimed the final two games to take the match.

The Jeffs return to the court tomorrow for day two of the Pioneer Valley Invitational and will face Colby at 11 a.m. followed by Bates at 5 p.m.

No. 18 AMHERST 9, SMITH 0
1. Aggarwal (A) def. Lee (S), 3-0 (11-, 11-2, 11-5)
2. Clary (A) def. Melillo (S), 3-0 (11-1, 11-3, 11-0)
3. Johnson (A) def. Morgenstein (S), 3-0 (11-0, 11-2, 11-0)
4. Rice (A) def. Lee (S), 3-0 (11-0, 11-1, 11-0)
5. Derber (A) def. Kim (S), 3-0 (11-3, 11-6, 11-0)
6. Reiser (A) def. Maull (S), 3-0 (11-1, 11-3, 11-1)
7. Pol (A) def. Jeon (S), 3-0 (11-1, 11-3, 11-0)
8. Merrell (A) def. Perry (S), 3-0 (11-3, 11-1, 11-3)
9. Pinney (A) def. Humayun (S), 3-0 (11-2, 11-2, 11-2)

No. 9 COLUMBIA 9, No. 18 AMHERST 0
1. Sultana (C) def. Robertson (A), 3-0 (11-4, 11-4, 11-8)
2. van Arkel (C) def. Lehman (A), 3-2 (11-6, 8-11, 10-12, 11-6, 11-6)
3. Pacheco (C) def. Sud (A), 3-0 (11-2, 11-6, 11-5)
4. Barret (C) def. Palmer-Poroner (A), 3-0 (11-6, 11-7, 11-5)
5. Jenkins (C) def. Kramer (A), 3-0 (11-2, 11-2, 11-1)
6. Stone (C) def. Aggarwal (A), 3-0 (11-2, 11-3, 11-6)
7. Maity (C) def. Clary (A), 3-0 (11-5, 11-4, 11-7)
8. Kumar (C) def. Johnson (A), 3-0 (11-7, 11-5, 11-1)
9. Pawlik (C) def. Rice (A), 3-0 (11-3, 11-3, 11-6)