By Emma Carmichael

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (March 1, 2008) -- In Saturday's Liberty League men's tennis match-up between Vassar College and Skidmore College, the conference's two most consistently successful squads, the Brewers came out on top with a 7-2 win at Walker Field House. Vassar improves its unblemished spring record to 5-0 and will head to Orlando, Florida on March 10 to face five teams from around the country. The Thoroughbreds fall to 0-1 and will play at the College of New Jersey tomorrow at 1:00 pm.

In the 2006-2007 season, the teams played each other both in the regular season and in the Liberty League playoffs. Skidmore took a close match in Saratoga on March 3, winning 5-4, while Vassar earned a 7-2 win in the Championship match to take the League title.

This time around, the Brewers maintained a comfortable advantage throughout the afternoon, only surrendering two matches to the visitors. The teams could meet again at this year's Liberty League Tournament on the weekend of April 19.

In doubles, the teams played close matches but Vassar picked up solid wins from both their #2 and #3 pairs. At the #3 slot, Jeremy Rosen (Paramus, NJ/Paramus) and Liberty League Rookie of the Week Joshua Jasso (Olmito, TX/James Pace) set the tone with an 8-2 win over Skidmore's Yahia Imam (Cairo, Egypt/Li Po Chin VWC of Hong Kong) and Jeremy Hogan (Andover, MA/Andover High School). Rosen and Jasso are 5-0 in doubles action this spring.

Skidmore won an evenly matched contest in #1 doubles, with Jared Karlebach (East Hampton, NY/East Hampton) and Carl-Eric Girardin (Lake Bluff, IL/Lake Forest) defeating Vassar's Max Willner (Bronx, NY/The Dwight School) and Greg Katz (Baldwin, NY/Baldwin Senior High) 9-7.

However, Vassar proved to be the dominant team in singles play, not losing a single set in the first five matches. Mattelson, the Liberty League's Performer of the Week for the second straight week, picked up a 6-3, 6-1 win over Girardin in #1 play, while Rosen closed out a tough first set against Lorenzo Cabrera (Daly City, CA/St. Ignatius) to win 7-5, 6-2 in the #5 contest.

Skidmore's T.J. David (Bernardsville, NJ/Salisbury School) picked up his team's sole singles victory with a 7-6, 4-6, (10-8) win over Brewer sophomore Robert Babbage (Lexington, KY/IMG Academy) in #6 singles.

Vassar 7, Skidmore 2

Doubles
1. Jared Karlebach/Carl-Eric Girardin (SC) def. Max Willner/Greg Katz (VC), 9-7
2. Mike Mattelson/Ashish Patil (VC) def. Lorenzo Cabrera/Spencer Cheng (SC), 8-5
3. Jeremy Rosen/Joshua Jasso (VC) def. Yahia Imam/Jeremy Hogan (SC), 8-2

Singles
1. Mike Mattelson (VC) def. Carl-Eric Girardin (SC), 6-3, 6-1
2. Max Willner (VC) def. Jared Karlebach (SC), 6-2, 6-4
3. Greg Katz (VC) def. Yahia Imam (SC), 6-1, 6-1
4. Ashish Patil (VC) def. Spencer Cheng (SC), 6-3, 6-3
5. Jeremy Rosen (VC) def. Lorenzo Cabrera (SC), 7-5, 6-2
6. T.J. David (SC) def. Robert Babbage (VC), 6-7, 6-4, (10-8)

Emma Carmichael is a student assistant in the sports information office