POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (February 8, 2014) – The Brewers opened strong at the Hudson Valley College Team Tournament on Saturday, winning their first two contests to advance to the title match, but finished as the runner-up Saturday in action from Kenyon Hall.

Junior David Garfinkel (Larchmont, NY / Mamaroneck) played  first in the No. 3 position, swapping game for game before falling to Siena's Greg Reo at a slim 4-11, 12-10, 11-9, 9-11, 11-9. Another heartbreaker comes from freshman star Carly Scher (Penn Valley, PA / Herriton) at No. 9, the only freshman to play Siena. After being only one game away from victory, Scher fell to a few shots from Siena's Eddie Stumm for a close score 11-5, 4-11, 6-11, 11-9, 11-8, after battling all five games.

After a rocky start, the Brewers shot back to dominance with six wins to cinch the match. Senior co-captains Ricardo Espinosa (Quiito, Ecuador / Colegio Americano de Quito) and Kiet Phun (Lincoln, NE / Lincoln) both delivered wins. Espinosa, at No. 1, defeated Siena's Matt Eliseo at a neat 11-3, 11-4, 11-6 and Phun brought down Jake Hebert in the No. 2 spot for a final score of 11-7, 11-8, 11-3.

Sohpomore Ben Kurchin (Rochester, NY / Harley School) clinched his first win of 2014 against Siena's Sean McKenna in the No. 7 spot, defeating his opponent in only three games for a final score of 12-10, 11-7, 11-5 and breaking his losing streak to bring his team to victory. Fellow sophomore Tim Viet (Fairfield, CT / Fairfield Warde) stumbled in his first game against John Schoonmaker in the No. 6 position before turning around to win the next three consecutive games 10-12, 11-1, 11-7, 11-4.

Rounding out the morning's matches was Sophomore Juan Fernandez (Colonia Chimalistac, Mexico / United World Coll Costa Rica) in position No. 4. This was only Fernandez's second victory out of 17 matches played this season. He beat out Siena's Jarret Bodo by hair in each of his matches for a score of 11-8, 11-9, 11-7.

Shining newcomer Carly Scher, again the only freshman and only woman to play against Gettysburg, came back strong from her heartbreaking loss earlier in the day to triumph over Jake Mollica in four games--winning the final game without allowing Mollica a single point--for a final score of 11-5, 11-4, 9-11, 11-0. Despite fighting tooth and nail for every point, junior David Garfinkel fell again after five tight games for a final score of 10-12, 9-11, 11-4, 11-7, 10-12.

Appropriately for senior day, every competing senior won their match. Senior co-captains Kiet Phun and Ricardo Espinosa raked in wins from the top two spots, Espinosa at a quick 11-9, 11-7, 11-7, and Phun after five grueling games came away with final scores of 7-11, 11-4, 8-11, 11-7, 11-2. Fellow senior Alan Darer (Chestnut Ridge, NY / Rockland County) defeated Gettysburg's Andrew La Fontaine with scores at 11-2, 11-5, 11-4.

Sophomore Juan Fernandez continued his rebound from a rough season to decimate Oliver Lowe for a final score of 11-5, 11-3, 11-4, and fellow sophomore Ben Kurchin turned his first season win into a streak by defeating Michael Curland 11-5, 10-12, 12-10, 11-7. Pulling in the final victory for the Brewer's victory over Gettysburg was sophomore Noah Kulick (Cambridge MA / Beaver Country Day), who won his match 11-9, 11-2, 11-5.

After sweeping away the competition to get to the championship match at Saturday's Hudson Valley Team Tournament, the Brewers fell 1-8 to Fordham University to take second overall in the tournament. Senior co-captain Ricardo Espinosa pulled through the only win for Vassar against Fordham, fighting for four matches against Fordham's Kincade Webster before closing the win for a final score of 14-12, 11-8, 9-11, 11-7. Espinosa capped his Senior Day by being the only Brewer to go undefeated all day.
 
The closest loss of the evening came from sophomore Tim Viet. After winning his first two matches of the day in three or four matches, Viet battled for five full games against Carlos Ortiz, many of which were close, for a final score of 8-11, 11-5, 6-11, 11-5, 11-5. This was the longest match of Viet's season. Senior co-captain Kiet Phun fell tragically for the first time during the tournament in a three-game match against Jeremy Kelley for a final score of 11-2, 11-4, 11-9. However, this was Phun's highest scoring loss since he fell to Northeastern University on January 25.
 
Surprise star of the afternoon, rookie sophomore Ben Kurchin, fought hard in his match against Fordham's Ross Garlick. After dropping the first game, Kurchin struck back for a strong 11-3 second game. In the end, Kurchin couldn't fight through his last two games of the long day and dropped the match 11-5, 3-11, 11-3, 11-8.
 
Also battling game for game was senior Alan Darer. Unwilling to break his streak after scoring his first win of the year against Gettysburg earlier in the day, Darer won his first game, and then kept pace in each of the following games for a very tight final score of 9-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-3.