Vassar junior Nicole Pontee made her trip to Lawrenceville, Georgia count, playing just about as much tennis as possible on the first day of the NCAA Division III Women's Tennis Championships. Following an upset win in three sets over the No. 8 seed on Friday morning, Pontee again went to three sets in the round of 16 in the afternoon, winning the first set but eventually dropping the match, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, to eventual runner-up Ploy Suthijindawong of St. Scholastica, at the Collins Hill Athletic Club. Pontee concludes her impressive junior season with a 26-5 record in Division III as well as earning the prestigious Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Northeast Region Player to Watch.
In the round of 16, Pontee picked up the first set 6-3, but was unable to hold off Suthijindawong of St. Scholastica who took the next two sets, both by a score of 6-2, ending Pontee's run in the NCAA Championships. Suthijindawong advanced to the Championship match after downing No. 2-ranked Kendra Higgins of the University of Chicago in the quarterfinals, and No. 6 ranked Sara D'Elia of Bowdoin College in the semifinals. In the Championship, she fell to No. 5-ranked Lorne McManigle.
In the first round, Pontee proved her mettle, pulling out a three set win to upset No. 8-ranked Meghan Damico of Denison University, Pontee won the first set 6-3, but Damico turned around to take the second set 6-1. Unfazed, Pontee clinched the match with a 6-3 win in the third set to advance to the next round. Pontee was the only player who managed to score an upset in the first round, as the other seven of the top eight seeds (only the top eight players received rankings) advanced to the quarterfinals.
