HAMILTON, NY (November 12, 2016) – The Vassar College women's squash team (3-1) fell 9-0 to William Smith College in the first match but then regained momentum to defeat host Colgate University 9-0 later in Hamilton, NY on Saturday.

"Assistant coach Isaac Diggs traveled with the women's team to Colgate," said coach David Ames, who travled with the men's team. "They beat Colgate 9-0 and lost to the much higher ranked William-Smith 9-0."

The Herons of William Smith are currently 5-0, beating all but one of their opponents 9-0. Although the Brewers lost, each player fought hard in every set. At one, Hannah Nice went to five against Gabrielle Fraser, ultimately falling 11-13, 8-11, 11-3, 11-6, 11-9. Alessandra Pilkington, number seven for Vassar, also took her opponent to five, with final scores of 11-8, 6-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-9. Number three Isabelle Bertram had a close match as well, falling to Heron Delaney Teceno in four 11-3, 11-4, 6-11, 11-4.

Jiamin Wu at two, Sydney Nemphos at four, Carly Scher at five, Cherylann Mucciolo at six, Diana Howland at eight and Kelly Rissman at nine all fell three sets to zero in their matches.

Despite a difficult match against William Smith, Vassar turned it around against Colgate, sweeping all nine matches. The Brewers played Colgate with the same lineup as they did against William Smith. Nice defeated Freesia Ferrantino, 11-4, 11-2, 11-3, while Wu beat Emily A. Dowling, 11-9, 11-4, 11-4. Bertram took out Olivia Taylor, 11-4, 11-6, 11-7, as Nemphos won her match, 11-9, 11-4, 11-7, against Amanda Gastel. Scher came away with an 11-7, 11-4, 11-3 victory over Ann Childress, and Mucciolo bested Hallie Burke, 11-0, 11-5, 11-4. Pilkington had a more challenging contest, as her opponent Mallory Lynch took her to four sets, but she ultimately prevailed, 11-1, 11-3, 10-12, 11-4. Rissman closed out the match for Vassar with an 11-3, 11-1, 11-4 win over Carolyn Kiernan. The Brewers also won in exhibition play, as Julia Pollak defeated Laura Bunn, 11-2, 11-7, 11-3.

After this weekend, Vassar is 3-1 overall. Up next the women will face off against Connecticut College at 11 a.m. and Haverford College at 3 p.m. in a doubleheader at home in Kenyon Hall on Saturday. 

"The matches ahead are going to be much tougher," Ames said. "Connecticut College, and Haverford College are ranked much higher than the teams we have played so far... Now that I have had a chance to observe the players in competitive situations I plan to taylor drills to the specific needs of the players which will be quite beneficial going forward."