POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (March 26, 2009) – The Vassar fields and courts will be humming with activity this weekend, highlighted by the annual Seven Sisters Tennis Championship, hosted on Joss Tennis Courts on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday marks Senior Day for the men’s volleyball team who will be recognizing a strong group of six seniors playing for the final time at Kenyon Hall. Out at the Prentiss Sports Complex on Saturday, men’s lacrosse and baseball host Liberty League matchups. On the road this weekend are women’s lacrosse, men’s tennis, and the men’s and women’s track teams.
Women’s Tennis
Vassar (8-3), ranked No. 23 in Division III, hosts the annual Seven Sisters Championship this weekend, looking to avenge three consecutive years of second place finishes to Wellesley College. The championship has come down to the Vassar versus Wellesley match for the last seven straight years, with the Brewers earning three straight titles from 2003-2005. In the 26 years the championship has been played, Vassar has eight titles and ten second place finishes and has finished in the top two every year since 1999. On Saturday, the Brewers will play Smith College at 10:30 a.m. and Mt. Holyoke College at 3:00 p.m. On Sunday, Vassar faces Bryn Mawr College at 10:30 a.m. and Wellesley at 3:00 p.m.
The Brewers are coming off a Spring Break trip to the Los Angeles area where they played five matches in six days, coming away with wins over Occidental College (8-1), Kenyon College (8-1), and Chapman College (5-4). Vassar’s two losses were to nationally ranked teams, No. 12 Bowdoin College (5-4) and No. 9 Pomona-Pitzer College (9-0). This spring Vassar has gone 5-2 and earned six weekly Liberty League awards with junior
Nicole Pontee (Flossmoor, IL/Homewood-Flossmoor) named Performer of the Week twice, freshman
Joy Backer (Del Mar, CA/Torrey Pines) earning one Performer of the Week, and freshman
Jennifer Beckerman (Santa Barbara, CA/Santa Barbara) honored as Rookie of the Week three times.
Men’s Volleyball
In its final home match of the season, Vassar (17-6, 7-2), ranked No. 8 in the most recent Bison/AVCA Top 15 Coaches Poll, hosts No. 13 Endicott College on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. The Brewers will honor six seniors playing in their final competition at Kenyon Hall:
John Kessenich (Chicago, IL/Richard Montgomery),
Greg Maier (Millis, MA/Millis),
Scott Leserman (Manhattan Beach, CA/Mira Costa),
Ben Coleman (Brookline, MA/Brookline),
Steve Micucci (Millis, MA/Millis), and
Brian Bacchi (Hicksville, NY/Hicksville).
Vassar is coming off a four-set win over Yeshiva College (30-13, 30-25, 28-30, 30-14) on Wednesday night, after dropping a tough five-setter (30-27, 24-30, 30-27, 27-30, 15-11) to No. 10 New York University on Tuesday night. The Brewers led 2-1, but the Violet fought back to win the final two matches. Vassar features three players who rank in the top 10 nationally in various statistics, as Leserman leads the nation in digs with 3.77 per game, junior
Phil Tully (Huntington Station, NY/Walt Whitman) ranks 8th in the nation in kills with 4.50 per game, and Kessenich is 9th in the nation in assists with 11.68 per game.
Men’s Lacrosse
The Brewers (3-4, 0-1) play their Liberty League home opener against Clarkson University (4-2) at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. The Brewers are coming off a league-opening 14-6 loss to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) on Wednesday. Vassar scored six goals in the final two periods against RPI, but was unable to recover from an early 11-0 deficit.
The Brewers are led this season by 14 points apiece from junior
Nick Cardillo (Honeoye Falls, NY/McQuaid Jesuit) (10 goals, four assists) and sophomore
Sam Thypin-Bermeo (Princeton, NJ/Hun School) (eight goals, six assists). Freshman
Jack Gross (Yarmouth, ME/Yarmouth) is having a strong debut season, with 10 points off nine goals and one assist. Sophomore
Alex Tice (Oakland, CA/St. Ignatius Prep) has started every game in goal for the Brewers, with 46 saves on the season.
Men’s Baseball
On Saturday, Vassar (2-8, 1-3) hosts RPI for a doubleheader beginning at 1:00 p.m. The Brewers will travel to RPI on Sunday for another doubleheader, starting at 12:00 p.m. The Brewers are coming off a 16-10 non-league loss to Mount Saint Mary College (14-1) on Wednesday. Despite scoring seven runs in the eighth to draw within three runs, the Brewers were unable to recover from an early 13-3 Blue Knight lead. Vassar was led by freshman
Sal Costanzo (Cooper City, FL/Archbishop McCarthy) in a 3-for-5, three RBIs, one run effort. Junior
Ari Glantz (Cambridge, MA/Cambridge, Rindge & Latin) was 1-for-2 while drawing three walks, with two RBIs and three runs.
The freshman duo of Joseph Coniglio (Ridgewood, NJ/Ridgewood) and Costanzo are pacing the Brewer bats this year, hitting .370 and .343, respectively. Coniglio and Glantz lead Vassar with seven RBIs apiece and senior
Zack Miller (San Francisco, CA/Lick-Wilmerding) is also batting over .300.
Women’s Lacrosse
Vassar (3-2) opens its Liberty League season on the road, with a 4:00 p.m. game against defending National Champion Hamilton College on Friday, and a 3:30 p.m. matchup at William Smith College on Saturday. Hamilton defeated Union College, 11-10 in the Liberty League Championship last year and then went on to beat Franklin & Marshall College, 13-6, for the NCAA Division III title. Last year, Vassar fell to William Smith, 13-12, in double overtime, and dropped a 17-2 decision to Hamilton.
The Brewers started their season by going 2-1 over a three-game Spring Break trip to Florida. Upon returning to the Northeast, Vassar played its longest game in program history, in an 11-10 triple overtime loss to Eastern Connecticut, and then picked up a convincing 19-7 win over New England College in its home-opener. Seniors
Christine Eaccarino (Old Saybrook, CT/Old Saybrook) (12 goals, 10 assists) and
Katama Martellucci (12 goals, four assists), and sophomore
Sarah Warner (Ipswich, MA/The Waring School) (13 goals) spearhead the Vassar offense.
Men’s Track
After racing in its first competition of the year at the Willie Williams Classic and Dave Murray Distance Carnival in Tucson, Arizona last weekend, the Brewers return to the Northeast for the Trinity Invitational on Saturday. Last year, Vassar ran its first ever in-region varsity event at the Trinity Invitational, led by strong performances by graduated senior Colin Sanders (Gaylord, MI/Gaylord) and then- freshman
Zach Ward (Dripping Springs, TX/Dripping Springs). Sanders placed third in the 10k in 33:05 and Ward finished sixth in the 100-meter dash in 11.92.
In Arizona, the Brewers fared well against some top-tier competition. Sophomore
Jon Erickson (Louisville, KY/duPont Manual) dominated the heat of the 800 meters, winning his heat in 1:57.24 and placing sixth overall in a highly competitive race. Running his first-ever 1500-meter event, freshman
Justin Rupert (Wellsboro, PA/Wellsboro Area) was the second overall finisher for Vassar with a time of 4:22.57, placing among the top 15 in the race. For their performances, Erickson was named the Liberty League Performer of the Week, while Rupert earned Rookie of the Week honors.
Women’s Track
The women also race in their first Northeast competition at the Trinity Invitational on Saturday after opening the season at the Willie Williams Classic and Dave Murray Distance Carnival in Tucson, Arizona last weekend. Last year at the Trinity Invitational, then-freshman
Jenica Law (Palo Alto, CA/Henry M. Gunn) turned out impressive performances in the 100 and 200 meter dashes (14.2, 28.9, respectively), as the Brewers raced in their first-ever regional varsity event.
Starting their season strong against top competition in Arizona were sophomore
Brittany Davis (Exeter, RI/Exeter-West Greenwich) and freshman
Johanna Spangler (Gettysburg, PA/Gettysburg Area). Davis shined for the Vassar women, finishing second in the steeplechase. She ran a 12:57 in her first steeplechase of the year, earning Liberty League Performer of the Week honors. NCAA Cross Country participant Spangler, running in her first-ever track 5k event, had one of the best track debuts in team history, running a 19:12. Her placing was the top of any Division III runner and among the top 10 in the race and earned her a Liberty League Rookie of the Week award.
Men’s Tennis
The Brewers (6-5) face a No. 6 nationally ranked Amherst College squad on Saturday. The match will be played at Skidmore College. Vassar last played during a five-match Spring Break trip to Orlando, Florida. The Brewers went 2-3 on the trip, picking up a 6-3 upset over No. 23 nationally ranked Christopher Newport College, and earning a sweep of Wabash College.
The Brewers are 5-4 this spring, led by No. 1 singles junior Mike Mattelson (Great Neck, NY/Great Neck North) who has been named the Liberty League Performer of the Week twice this spring, raising his total to five for the 2008-09 season.