POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (November 4, 2016) — Under the direction of interim head coach David Ames, the Vassar College men's and women's squash teams will jumpstart their seasons against Fordham University, Siena College and Mount Holyoke College at Kenyon Hall on Saturday, Nov. 5.

"It's a great group of players," Ames said. "It's a mix of players who were experienced when they came to Vassar and some who learned to play squash while at Vassar. But they all are really motivated. They work hard, and they're dedicated.  They show up and have a great attitude. "

Ames' 20 years of experience as a Level I Certified Squash Coach at Bard College should propel the men's and women's programs, following the departure of Jane Parker, who had coached the Brewers the previous 16 seasons.

While Ames is new to the program, as are four men's and three women's players. Upon the end of the 2015-16 season, Vassar waived goodbye to six seniors in Parisa Halajij and Steph Zhu for the women and Tim Boycott, Juan Fernandez, Michael Iselin, Ben Kurchin and Timothy Veit for the men.

This year, freshmen Ankit Khosla, Zhongyu Li, Viraj Nadkarni, Samantha Henderson, Sydney Nemphos and Alessandra Pilkington should be valuable additions to the men's and women's programs.

"The team right now, I think is growing, which is exciting," junior captain Hannah Nice said. "We have some young, new players, and we also have some seniors that have been with the program the past four years… It's growing, but it's growing exponentially. "

The women's team looks to build upon its 2015-16 campaign, a season in which the Brewers finished 7-9 overall (5-2 at home, 1-3 away and 1-4 at neutral sites). Nice returns to the program, having led the team with a 12-4 record last year. She finished 77^th on the College Squash Association Individual Championships Tournament, a major feat.

Isabelle Bertram, Diana Howland and Carly Scher will come into their final season with experience and strong, senior leadership. Scher spent last year abroad, while Bertram totaled four wins, and Howland and sophomore Jiamin Wu notched six wins apiece last year.

On the men's side, the Brewers will seek to improve their 2-15 mark from last year.

Returning as a senior, Vincent Mencotti will continue to be a force on the squad.  Mencotti played in 17 matches for the Brewers at the No. 1 position and led the team in wins with six.  Fellow seniors Richard Bryenton, Lucas Fifer and Samuel Hammer will add their experience and leadership to the squad as well.

 "We're definitely a younger team this year," said Hammer, a senior captain, "so we're hoping to instill those same kind of positive values into the younger guys as they go along at Vassar."

Following Saturday's games, the men will travel to Bard before playing six of their final eight regular-season games at home. Meanwhile, the Brewers women will travel to Hamilton, NY for games against William Smith College and Colgate University before playing five of their final seven games at home.

"I'm really hoping that come nationals, we're our most competitive and that we get in position to win the championships like my sophomore year and take home some more trophies," said Hammer, a senior captain. "That'd be a pretty special thing."