POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (March 12, 2015) - The Vassar women's tennis team will head west for Southern California to play a quintet of dual matches during spring break from March 16-21.

Last Time Out
No. 20 Skidmore earned two of three doubles victories, then clinched four more wins in singles to earn a 6-3 decision over No. 30 Vassar on March 7. Seniors Samantha Schapiro (Milford, NJ/Rutgers Preparatory School) and Ava Sadeghi (Glendale, CA/Campbell Hall) pulled out a win at No. 1 doubles, while freshman Kate Christensen (Los Angeles, CA/Connections Academy) and sophomore Emily Hallewell (Washington, DC/Stone Ridge Sch. Scared Heart) both clinched singles victories at No. 1 and No. 4 (respectively).

Team of the Week
Schapiro, Sadeghi and Christensen were named to the Liberty League Team of the Week in a release made by the conference offices on March 9. The trio marks the 20th, 21st and 22nd selections of the 2014-15 season for Vassar, the most of any Liberty League institution. Christensen was also named the ECAC Performer of the Week on March 11.

On Last Year's Trip
Vassar finished 3-2 last season during its spring break trip to the Golden State, starting off with a 9-0 victory over Principia College on March 9, 2014. The Brewers then dropped a pair of decisions to No. 7 Bowdoin (2-7) and No. 10 Pomona Pitzer (0-9), before finishing with two wins over California Institute of Technology (8-1) and No. 23 Chapman (6-3).

Competition
The Brewers will face the University of La Verne, Pomona-Pitzer, Whitman College, Amherst College and Chapman University during the trip. The teams are a combined 15-6 in dual matches for the 2014-15 season. Below is a look at each team heading into next week's matches.

Opponent: University of La Verne (6-0)
Links: (Women's Tennis Home Page) (Roster) (Schedule)
Date and Time: Monday March 16^th at 1 pm
Location: Claremont, CA

A Look at the Leopards
The University of La Verne is currently the ITA Ranked 17th team in the nation. The Leopards are also ranked 3^rd in the West region. La Verne is currently 6-0 overall with their biggest win coming over currently ranked #35 Linfield (5-4).

Junior All-American Andrea Madrigal is the top player for the Leopards, and will have a potential rematch with freshman Kate Christensen. The two played in the quarterfinals of the ITA Small College National Championships back in October, where Christensen earned a 7-6, 6-4 victory over Madrigal to advance to the semifinals.

Last Meeting
The last time the teams met in a dual match on March 16, 2013, Vassar secured an 8-1 victory on the legs of five singles wins and a sweep in doubles matches. Ava Sadeghi, Samantha Schapiro and Winnie Yeates (New Orleans, LA/Isidore Newman School) all earned singles victories, while Sadeghi and Schapiro teamed up for a win at No. 1 doubles.

Opponent: Pomona-Pitzer (3-1)
Links: (Women's Tennis Home Page) (Roster) (Schedule) (Stats)
Date and Time: Tuesday March 17^th at 2 pm
Location: Claremont, CA

A Look at the Sagehens
Pomona-Pitzer is currently ranked 8th in the ITA national poll and 2^nd in the West Region. The Sagehens are 3-0 overall with wins coming over Cal Lutheran (9-0), Cal Tech (9-0), and No. 22 University of Redlands (7-2).

Pomona-Pitzer has a few women leading their singles charge with Emily Chen at 3-0, Shivani Doraiswami at 3-0, Emily Kuo at 2-0, Lea Lynn Yen at 3-0, and Maryann Zhao at 2-0. The team is 17-1 overall in singles play.

The teams of Grace Hruska/Lea Lynn Yen (3-0), and Maddie Gordon/Maryann Zhao (3-0) have had the most success in doubles for Pomona-Pitzer this season. Overall the team is 8-1 in doubles action.

Last Meeting
When the teams met last season on March 13, No. 10 Pomona secured a 9-0 sweep over the Brewers.

Opponent: Whitman College (6-2)
Links: (Women's Tennis Home Page) (Roster) (Schedule) (Stats)
Date and Time: Thursday March 19^th at 10 am
Location: Irvine, CA

A Look at the Missionaries
Whitman College is currently in the 29^th position in the ITA national rankings and 5^th in the West region. They are currently 6-2 overall with losses to No. 17 Lewis-Clark State College (1-8) and Division I Eastern Washington University (0-7). The Missionaries defeated Whittier College (8-1) and University of Texas-Tyler (9-0), who were ranked No. 38 and No. 39 respectively.

Singles play for Whitman this season has been led by Erin Bell at 4-1, Lindsey Brodeck at 4-2, Jenna Dobrin at 5-3, Courtney Lawless at 4-0, Alexandra Sigouin at 4-1 and Allie Wallin at 6-2. Whitman is currently 32-16 in singles overall.

For doubles play, the teams of Katrina Allick/Erin Bell (5-1), Morgan Lawless/Courtney Lawless (4-1), and Madison Webster/Hanna Greenberg (4-0) have set the standard for Whitman. Whitamn is 17-6 overall in doubles.

Opponent: Amherst College (0-1)
Links: (Women's Tennis Home Page) (Roster) (Schedule)
Date and Time: Friday March 20^th at 10 am
Location: Irvine, CA

A Look at the Jeffs
Amherst is currently ranked 4^th in the ITA National rankings and 2^nd in the Northeast Region. The Jeffs have played just one dual match heading into its spring break trip to California, falling 4-5 to National No. 3 Williams College on October 11. Amherst will also face Pomona-Pitzer and Chapman prior to playing Vassar on the 20^th.

Junior Sue Ghosh and freshman Vickie Ip have been the top players for the Jeffs through the fall season, both advancing to the quarterfinals of the ITA New England Regional Championships. Ip played at No. 1 singles for the Jeffs against Williams, claiming a 6-3, 3-6, 10-6 victory over Linda Shin. Ghosh also won her match at No. 2 singles, defeating Juli Raventos 6-2, 6-3, while she and Ip combined for a 8-1 win over Rebecaa Curran and Maria Pylypiv at no. 1 doubles.

Last Meeting
The last time the two teams met in dual match play, Amherst earned a 9-0 victory over the Brewers on April 3, 2011 at Joss Tennis Courts. The Jeffs were the No. 2 team in the nation at the time.

Opponent: Chapman University (0-2)
Links: (Women's Tennis Home Page) (Roster) (Schedule) (Stats)
Date and Time: Saturday March 21^st at 9 am
Location: Orange, CA

A Look at the Panthers
Chapman University is currently ranked 31^st in the ITA National rankings and 6^th in the West Region. The Panthers currently hold a 0-2 overall record falling to No. 25 Brandeis 2-7 and to No. 23 Mary Washington 3-6.

Chapman's Sophia Duong and Madeline Saunders have been the team's top singles players, going 4-1 and 3-1 respectively. The team as a whole is 0-5 against singles opponents who are ranked in the West region.

The doubles team of Duong and Saunders has been the most successful for Chapman as well, going 2-0. Overall they are each 2-1 in doubles play. As a team Chapman has a record of 2-7 in doubles.

Last Meeting
Vassar ended its California spring break trip last season with a 6-3 win over Chapman on March 15 at the Anaheim Hills Racquet Club the last time the team's met. The win capped a two-match win streak for the Brewers to end their trip, winning two of three doubles matches and four singles bouts.

Next on the Slate
Vassar's next home match will be on Friday, April 3 when the squad hosts the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at 2:30 pm.