Holyoke is ranked just a bit higher than HC at this point so, all things being equal, a smallish merit discount from HC might (possibly) attract a young woman who is on the fence between the two.
I do think HC’s move to smallish merit discounts for stronger academic kids was primarily aimed at winning those kids who are getting some merit from PC (a very strong applicant overlap school) or Fordham (another strong applicant overlap school), etc. This sort of strategic move not only ups the general academic quality but pays dividends regarding yield.
I don’t think schools like Georgetown (GT) or Boston College were a consideration for HC when they considered going to need-aware or considered beginning a limited-discount merit aid program. (Just being realistic here.)
Leveraging the financial benefits of going need-aware to produce some merit aid is not a terrible idea given competitive realities in the market place.