POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (November 5, 2016) — The Vassar College men's and women's squash teams swept their season-opener at Kenyon Hall on Saturday.
The Vassar men (2-0) topped Siena College 7-2 before beating Fordham University by the same score, while the women shut out Fordham 9-0 before taking down Mount Holyoke College 7-2.
Additionally, the Fordham men beat Siena 8-1, and the Fordham women shut down Mount Holyoke 9-0.
At the one spot for Vassar, Vincent Mencotti beat Siena's Faizan Rahim 11-5, 11-5, 11-4 before falling to Fordham's Peter Yuen 11-9, 11-7, 11-8. In the second slot, Viraj Nadkarni topped Siena's Jack McQuade 11-4, 11-3, 11-3 and Fordham's Bruce Czachor 11-8, 11-9, 11-8. At the three, Samuel Hammer fell to Siena's Tyler Tsang in a close one 12-10, 11-6, 9-11, 11-4 and to Fordham's John Lennon 11-5, 11-2, 11-1.
Continuing with the Vassar men, Ankit Khosla fought a tough one to top Siena's Jimmy Wimer 11-5, 6-11, 11-6, 9-11, 11-6 and won by retirement against Fordham's Jimmy Shinnick 11-1, 8-0. In the fifth spot, Richard Bryenton beat Siena's John Keenan 11-9, 11-5, 7-11, 12-10 before securing his sweep in another four-set match against Fordham's George Mead 11-2, 6-11, 11-1, 11-4. At the six, Alex Riccio won against Siena's Russel Santos 11-1, 11-3, 11-5 and Fordham's Neil Patel 11-1, 10-12, 11-3, 11-7.
Concluding with the Brewer men, Caden Gruber beat Siena's Joey Gallager 11-1, 11-3, 11-5 and Fordham's Justin Esposito 11-1, 11-3, 11-1. In the eighth slot, Lucas Fifer won in three against Siena's Liann Goldman 11-8, 11-1, 11-3 and won in four against Fordham's Will Beatrez 11-5, 11-6, 4-11, 12-10. Rounding out the competition at No. 9, Isaac Stuart fell to Siena's Tom Caron 11-1, 11-6, 11-2 but bounced back to beat Fordham's Anthony Salerno 11-3, 11-6, 11-4.
Moving onto the Vassar women, Hannah Nice swept both of her opponents in three sets, beating Fordham's Emily Bak 11-0, 11-2, 11-1 and MHC's Brandy Williamson 11-5, 11-8, 11-5. At the No. 2 spot, Jiamin Wu topped Fordham's Julia Seebode 11-1, 11-6, 11-4 before falling to MHC's Ragini Ghose 11-4, 11-8, 11-2. Isabelle Bertram rounded out the top three, beating Fordham's Lauren McGowan 11-2, 11-3, 11-2 and MHC's Lessly Portillo in perhaps the day's most interesting match, 8-11, 9-11, 14-12, 11-4, 13-11.
Staying with the Brewer women, Sydney Nemphos beat Fordham's Caroline Dohanue 11-2, 11-2, 11-2 before falling to MHC's Allison Shilling 9-11, 11-7, 11-4, 12-10. At the No. 5 slot, Carly Scher eased past Fordham's Maddie Wright 11-4, 11-1, 11-0 before beating MHC's Tanishka Sachindanand 11-9, 11-9, 11-4. In the sixth spot, Cheryl Mucciolo downed Fordham's Olivia Micci-Smith 11-2, 11-2, 11-1 and MHC's Rose Minichiello in a hard-fought battle, 7-11, 7-11, 11-4, 11-7, 11-3.
Concluding with the Vassar women, Alessandra Pilkington won in straight sets against Fordham's Catherine Oliver 11-5, 11-3, 11-1 and MHC's Amanda Lee 11-7, 11-6, 11-6. At the eight, Diana Howland also won in three sets against Fordham's Liz Doty 11-3, 11-0, 11-2 and MHC's Syry Mitchell 11-6, 11-4, 11-8. Rounding out the women's competition, Kelly Risman finished the day perfectly, beating her opponents in three sets each against Fordham's Olivia DiStefano 11-2, 11-1, 11-2 and MHC's Kirina Gair-MacMichael 11-6, 11-6, 11-3.
The Brewers also won in exhibition play: Samantha Henderson beat Fordham's Vanessa Quimson 11-2, 11-0, and Julia Pollak topped MHC's Namrata Ahujo 11-8, 11-3.
Up next, the Vassar women travel to Hamilton, NY to take on William Smith College (10:30 a.m.) and Colgate University (2:30 p.m.) on Saturday, Nov. 12, while the men hit the road to face Bard College in Annandale-On-Hudson, NY on the same day at 8 a.m.
—VASSAR—
