POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (April 2, 2015) – The Vassar women's tennis team will play a pair of Liberty League tennis matches this weekend at home against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and on the road vs. William Smith College.
 
Opponent: RPI (6-4)
Links: (Women's Tennis Home Page) (Roster)  (Schedule)
Date: April 3, 2015
Time: 2:30 pm
Location: Poughkeepsie, NY
Coverage: (Twitter)
 
Opponent: William Smith
Links: (Women's Tennis Home Page) (Roster)  (Schedule)
Date: April 4, 2015
Time: 12:00 pm
Location: Geneva, NY
 
Last Time Out
Vassar finished 3-2 during its weeklong spring break excursion to Southern California, playing a loaded schedule complete with five nationally ranked teams. The Brewers picked up wins La Verne, Whitman and Chapman to improve to 5-4 on the year in dual matches.

A Look at the Engineers
RPI enters Saturday's matchup 6-4 on the season and 2-1 in the Liberty League, fresh off a 3-1 week during the team's spring trip to California. The Engineers have earned conference victories over Union and RIT already this season, while falling to St. Lawrence 9-0 and having a matchup with Bard postponed.

Senior Casey Olsen has been the team's primary player at No. 1 singles, finishing 1-3 last week on the West Coast. Junior Emily Aaldenberg is the reigning Liberty League Singles Performer of the Week, finishing 3-0 in singles play at No. 6 for the team in California.  

Last Meeting
The Brewers clinched a 9-0 victory over RPI last season on April 5, 2014, sweeping singles and doubles at home on Josselyn Tennis Courts. The win was the third in what would be a six-game winning streak for Vassar between March and April.

A Look at the Herons
William Smith will look to end a three-game skid when the team hosts Vassar on Saturday, as the Herons have dropped consecutive matchups to Rochester, TCNJ and NYU all during the past week. WS now stands 3-4 overall in duals on the season, and is 0-1 in the Liberty League losing its only conference match to Skidmore on February 22.

Sophomore Hannah More and senior Haley Wolf have gone 4-2 as the No. 1 doubles team for the Herons, and are coming off an 8-2 loss in the team's last matchup against NYU on March 29. More has played primarily at No. 1 singles for the Herons as well, while Wolfe will likely be slotted in the No. 3 spot.

Last Meeting
VC earned a 7-2 victory over the Herons the last time the teams squared off in a dual match format on April 27, 2013. Then-sophomores Samantha Schapiro (Milford, NJ/Rutgers Preparatory School) and Ava Sadeghi (Glendale, CA/Campbell Hall) picked up a win at No. 1 doubles to help pace the Brewers to a 3-0 sweep in doubles.

Moving up the Rankings
Vassar was slotted as the 24th ranked team in the country in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association Division III Rankings released last week. The Brewers jumped six spots from No. 30 after a successful trip to Southern California where the team earned wins over No. 25 Whitman, No. 26 La Verne and No. 33 Chapman. VC also improved upon its ranking in the Northeast Region, moving up from No. 12 to No. 10.

Individuals Ranked & Honored
Freshman Kate Christensen (Los Angeles, CA/Connections Academy) is ranked as the No. 12 singles player in the region after finishing 3-2 in California as Vassar's No. 1 singles player. Christensen was named the Liberty League and ECAC Singles Player of the Week on March 23 and 25 (respectively) for her efforts.

Seniors Samantha Schapiro and Ava Sadeghi skyrocketed up the doubles rankings, moving from the No. 10 to the No. 2 ranked doubles team in the Northeast Region. The duo went 4-1 in California, earning a signature win against No. 4 Amherst.  The pair topped Vickie Ip and Sue Ghosh at No. 1 doubles on March 20, who remain the No. 1 ranked doubles team in the Northeast. Schapiro and Sadeghi earned their sixth selections as the Liberty League Doubles Team of the Week on March 23.  

Coming Up Next
Vassar will return to action next weekend for the Sevens Sisters Championships in Northhampton, MA April 11-12.