POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (May 12, 2010) – Ever since arriving at Vassar College in 2006, Nicole Pontee has been an invaluable contributor to head coach Kathy Campbell's women's tennis program, and every year the Liberty League has recognized Pontee and Campbell with its top honors. After the dynamic duo led the Brewers to their eighth straight Liberty League Championship and eighth straight invitation to the NCAA Division III Championships, Pontee earned her third consecutive Player of the Year honor, completing the four-year sweep after being named Rookie of the Year in 2007, with Campbell earning Coaching Staff of the Year recognition in each of those years.

Pontee was also named All-Conference Singles, as were sophomore teammates Jennifer Beckerman and Joy Backer while Pontee and Backer received All-Conference Doubles recognition. Freshmen Natalie Santiago and Jennifer Ruther were named Honorable Mention Singles, while Beckerman and sophomore Nicole Block and Santiago and junior Alyssa Roush earned Honorable Mention Doubles. The awards, as voted on by coaches around the league, were announced on Wednesday.

Kathy Campbell
Coaching Staff of the Year
This is the fifth consecutive season Campbell has earned Liberty League Coaching Staff of the Year honors, following an impressive 2009-10 season in which she led Vassar to an 18-2 season. The Brewers won their eighth consecutive Liberty League title and received their eighth straight invitation to the NCAA Division III Championship, where they will face Transylvania University in the first round at Emory University on Friday. The Brewers concluded the season by jumping five spots in the most recent Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) national rankings, listed at No. 17 on April 29, the program's highest ranking since 2004. Vassar is No. 7 in the Northeast. The Brewers won four titles (No. 1 and 5 singles, No. 1 and 2 doubles) at the NY State Championships and won the Seven Sisters Championship for the first time since 2005. Vassar's only losses all season came to No. 1 Williams and No. 7 Pomona, by a score of 5-4. Campbell is assisted by Steve Guernsey and Mark Chace.

Nicole Pontee, Senior
Player of the Year/All-Conference Singles
In her senior season, Pontee went 25-3 at No. 1 singles, and was undefeated against Liberty League opponents, selected as the league Performer of the Week on ten occasions and named Most Outstanding Performer of the Liberty League Tournament for the second straight year. Pontee won the No. 1 singles flight at the New York State Championships for the third consecutive year. She was a singles semifinalist in the ITA New England Regional Championship, losing to Tufts' Julia Browne, the No. 1 player in the Northeast. In singles play, Pontee is currently ranked No. 6 in the Northeast and No. 12 nationally. She won 16 consecutive matches at one point during the season.

Pontee holds a remarkable career record of 96-20 in singles and 62-22 in doubles, and is a three-time Player of the Year, one-time Rookie of the Year, four-time All-Conference Singles, three-time All-Conference Doubles, 25-time Player of the Week, and seven-time Rookie of the Week. With this season's NCAA post-season yet to commence, Pontee is already a two-time ITA/NCAA All-America with two appearances in the NCAA Division III Singles Championship and was named the ITA Northeast Region Player to Watch in 2008-09 season, one of just four winners nationally.

Jennifer Beckerman, Sophomore
All-Conference Singles
Coming off a freshman season in which she was named Rookie of the Year and All-Conference Singles, Beckerman went 20-5 at No. 2 singles in her sophomore year and is ranked No. 24 in the Northeast. She earned her first career Liberty League Performer of the Week on March 29. Beckerman went 15-1 during the spring with her only loss coming against No. 7 Pomona. She was undefeated against league opponents and won the No. 2 singles flight at the Seven Sisters Championship. Beckerman has a 38-11 career record in singles.

Joy Backer, Sophomore
All-Conference Singles
This is the first career All-Conference Singles honor for Backer, who was Honorable Mention as a freshman. Backer went 17-5 in her sophomore season at No. 3 singles. After dropping her first match of the spring season in three sets to Division I Fordham, Backer won 11 straight matches -- all in two sets -- to close out the season. Her only league loss came in the New York State Championships, as she went 3-0 in dual matches against league opponents. Backer is 29-14 in singles play in her career.

Nicole Pontee, senior/Joy Backer, sophomore
All-Conference Doubles
In their first season playing together, Pontee and Backer went 17-4 at No. 1 doubles and are ranked No. 7 in the Northeast. The duo was undefeated against league opponents and won the No. 1 doubles flight at the New York State Championships. They won six straight matches to conclude the season. Pontee and Backer won 10 consecutive matches at one point, allowing three or less games in seven of those matches. Their only losses came to No. 1 Williams (twice), No. 7 Pomona, and NAIA Westmont.

Natalie Santiago, Freshman
Honorable Mention Singles
After playing No. 6 singles in the fall with a 5-2 record, Santiago moved up to No. 4 singles in the spring and went 8-3, finishing her freshman season 13-5. A two-time Liberty League Rookie of the Week Santiago won her first five matches of the spring playing at No. 4 singles.

Jennifer Ruther, Freshman
Honorable Mention Singles
Ruther went 20-2 at No. 5 singles, and 20-3 overall as she dropped one match playing No. 3 singles at the Seven Sisters Championship. A five-time Liberty League Rookie of the Week, Ruther was the No. 5 singles flight winner at the New York State Championships. After dropping her first match of the season to No. 1 Williams, Ruther won 16 consecutive matches until her loss at Seven Sisters -- during that stretch, all but one match was won in two sets, and Ruther allowed just two games or less in 11 of those matches.

Jennifer Beckerman, sophomore/Nicole Block, sophomore
Honorable Mention Doubles
Beckerman and Block went 17-5 at No. 2 doubles and were the No. 2 doubles flight winner at New York State Championships. In the Liberty League Championship title match, Beckerman and Block avenged a loss to the No. 2 pair from Skidmore who beat them earlier in the season. They went 10-2 in the spring, winning 11 straight matches at one point and allowing no more than three games in six of those.

Natalie Santiago, freshman/Alyssa Roush, junior
Honorable Mention Doubles
The duo won their first five matches playing together, not allowing more than three games in any match, and went 8-2 overall at No. 3 doubles. Santiago and Roush won the deciding match at the Seven Sisters Championship against Wellesley as Vassar won its first title since 2005. Their only losses came to No. 7 Pomona and Mount Holyoke.