POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (April 12, 2008) -- Saturday's Senior Day tennis match between Vassar and Tufts at the Josselyn Courts had all of the intensity and excitement that one expects to see when two closely ranked teams face off against each other. In the end it was Tufts that pulled away for a slim 5-4 victory over the home team. Tufts is currently ranked No. 9 in the Northeast by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) while Vassar is No. 10, and the decision was just as narrow as their ranking difference: each team took wins in two of four three-set singles decisions.

The loss snaps Vassar's four-game winning streak and drops the team's spring record to 11-4. The Brewers travel to take on the Northeast's No. 15 squad, Wesleyan, this Wednesday, April 16 at 3:30 pm. Tufts improves to 7-5 and will host Springfield College Wednesday at 3:30 pm.

Vassar appeared to have some control in the match following the doubles play, in which they took two of the three matches to gain an early 2-1 lead. Freshmen Max Willner (Bronx, NY/The Dwight School) and Greg Katz (Baldwin, NY/Baldwin Senior High), partners dating back to their first collegiate match against NYU last September 19, defeated Daniel Landers (Sao Paulo, Brazil/School of Sao Paulo) and Tom Wilmanski (Warsaw, Poland/American School of Warsaw) 8-6 in the No. 1 spot.

At No. 3 doubles, the apparently unstoppable duo of Jeremy Rosen (Paramus, NJ/Paramus) and Joshua Jasso (Olmito, TX/James Pace High) easily defeated Tufts' Jake Fountain (Nassau, Bahamas/St. Andrew's School) and Tony Carucci (Thousand Oaks, CA/Westlake), 8-3. Rosen and Jasso have amassed an 11-1 record this year as doubles partners.

In singles play, only two of the six matches did not reach a third set—and both of those were two-set victories for Tufts, proving to be the difference in the match. William Fleder (New York, NY/Horace Mann) squeaked out a 7-5 edge over Vassar's Mike Mattelson (Great Neck, NY/Great Neck North) in the first set, and then cruised 6-0 in the second, and Landers got by Rosen 6-3, 6-1. It was only Rosen's second singles loss of the spring season.

But Vassar did not go down easily. In No. 2 play, Willner took Fountain to a third set after dropping his first 4-6, pulling away with a 6-4, 6-3 advantage to get Vassar's first singles victory of the day. Fellow freshman Jasso improved his career singles record to 16-7 with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 win at the No. 6 slot.

The Jumbo's held just the slimmest of advantages in the Nos. 3 and 4 match-ups, both of which extended to three sets of play but ended with a Tufts player as the victor.

Today's competition was the final home match for Vassar senior Ashish Patil. Patil, a history major from Silsbee, Texas, boasts impressive career records of 37-24 in singles and 33-28 in doubles. His current singles record for the 2007-2008 season is 14-7.


Tufts 5, Vassar 4

Doubles
1. Max Willner/Greg Katz (VC) def. Daniel Landers/Tom Wilmanski (TU), 8-6
2. Will Fleder/Paul Kohnstamm (TU) def. Ashish Patil/Mike Mattelson (VC), 8-5
3. Jeremy Rosen/Joshua Jasso (VC) def. Jake Fountain/Tony Carucci (TU), 8-3

Singles
1. William Fleder (TU) def. Mike Mattelson (VC), 7-5, 6-0
2. Max Willner (VC) def. Jake Fountain (TU) 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
3. Andrew Rosen (TU) def. Greg Katz (VC) 5-7, 6-3, 6-4
4. Tony Carucci (TU) def. Ashish Patil (VC) 5-7, 6-3, 6-3
5. Daniel Landers (TU) def. Jeremy Rosen (VC), 6-3, 6-1
6. Josh Jasso (VC) def. Tom Wilmanski (TU), 6-2, 3-6, 6-3