POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (May 13, 2010) – Vassar College tennis will be taking its place in the national spotlight this weekend as both men's and women's teams compete in the NCAA Division III National Team Championships. The women are making their eight straight trip and 10th overall to the NCAA Championships, and play Transylvania University in the first round on Friday at 2:00 p.m. at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. On their third consecutive trip to the national postseason the men, who received a first round bye, play North Carolina Wesleyan on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. in Towson, Maryland.

Women's Tennis
Vassar carries an 18-2 record with No. 17 national and No. 7 Northeast region Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings into its first round matchup against the Pioneers, who are 14-6 with no national or regional rankings. Both teams are champions of their respective conferences, as the Brewers won their eighth consecutive Liberty League title on April 25 and the Pioneers won their first ever Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) title on October 16. It is Transylvania's first ever visit to the NCAA Division III National Championship, while it is Vassar's eighth straight year in the postseason, and the tenth overall. The teams share no common opponents.

The Brewers won ten straight matches to conclude the regular season, including an 8-1 semi-final win over St. Lawrence University and a 6-3 finals win over Skidmore College in the Liberty League Championship. Vassar's only losses all season came to No. 1 Williams, 9-0, and No. 7 Pomona, 5-4.

The Pioneers went 12-2 in the fall – their traditional season – en route to capturing the HCAC title with a 5-0 semi-final win over Anderson and a 5-3 title win against Rose-Hulman. Transylvania went 2-4 during the spring season, concluding the season with a 7-2 loss to Centre.

Although Transylvania's lineup has changed throughout the season, Vassar's No. 1 singles player, senior Nicole Pontee will likely face sophomore Kelsey Fulkerson, who has played at the top of the lineup for the majority of the Pioneers' matches. At No. 1 doubles, the duo of Pontee and sophomore Joy Backer will likely play Fulkerson and Sarah Ridley who have been Transylvania's top doubles team in the spring. Pontee has a 25-3 record in singles and is ranked No. 12 nationally and No. 6 regionally in the most recent ITA poll while Pontee and Backer are ranked No. 7 in the Northeast with a 17-4 record.

With a win, Vassar would face Washington & Lee University (18-5), ranked No. 6 nationally and No. 1 in the Atlantic South region, on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. The Generals, who won the Division III National Championship in 2007, are in their 17th consecutive and 18th overall NCAA postseason and received a first round bye after winning their 20th Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) title.

Men's Tennis
The men's opening match against North Carolina Wesleyan has all the makings of a nail biter. Vassar enters the match with a 14-3 record and a No. 27 national ranking and North Carolina Wesleyan boasts a 16-1 record and a No. 11 national ranking. The teams share two common opponents – Christopher Newport and Williams. Vassar defeated Christopher Newport 8-1, while North Carolina Wesleyan won both its matches, 7-2 and 6-3. The Brewers lost to Williams 8-1, while the Bishops won a tight match 5-4.

With a win, a potential third round match would pit Vassar against the winner of the Drew/Lycoming versus Johns Hopkins match on Sunday in the regional final at Noon. Johns Hopkins is the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Regional and sports a No. 10 national ranking and a 20-5 record.

Vassar enters its second round NCAA Championship match having defeated Hobart and St. Lawrence 9-0 to win its second Liberty League Championship on April 17. This season, the Brewers won 11 straight matches before No. 17 Trinity College broke the streak with a 5-4 win in a hard-fought match. Vassar's only other losses came against No. 12 Williams and No. 5 Amherst.

The Bishops enter the NCAA Championships on a 10-match winning streak, having suffered their only loss of the season to Johns Hopkins, 8-1 on March 20. North Carolina Wesleyan won its second consecutive USA South title, over Christopher Newport on April 18, and is making its second straight NCAA Tournament appearance.

“We're looking for our doubles team to jump start the match for us,” says head coach Ki Kroll. “We anticipate a very competitive match, and across the board, everyone of our players is going to have to step it up and play their best tennis of the year for us to win.”

The No. 1 singles match promises to be an intriguing matchup between Vassar's Michael Mattelson (21-6) who will face North Carolina Wesleyan's Antti Saari (11-6). Both players came into the season with pre-season national rankings, Mattelson at No. 16 and Saari at No. 20. Mattelson is ranked No. 6 in the Northeast Region while Saari is ranked No. 10 in the Atlantic South Region.