MENDON, NY (February 27, 2016) — The Vassar College women's tennis team shut out Rochester Institute of Technology, 9-0, on the road Saturday afternoon.

With the win, the Brewers improve to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in conference play, while the Tigers fall to 2-4 and 0-2 in the Liberty League.

"I started talking with my team last week that we want to send a message," coach Bruce Levine said. "We want to show teams that we're stronger than they think we are. This reinforced that."

The Brewers got off to a solid start by sweeping doubles. For No. 1 doubles, Shayna Becker and Hanna McGuire teamed up to defeat Amelia Ying and Gianna Heaviland, 8-1. Dasha Ivenitsky and Connie Yoo took down Marie Jubert and Kelsie Redburn, 8-4, for No. 3 doubles, and Lauren Stauffer and Kelsey Van Noy completed the sweep with an 8-5 win over Alyssa Hering and Brianna Dimisko in No. 2 doubles. 

"We started quick and won doubles," Levine said. "Two and three doubles started slow, but we turned it around. And then the rest of the match flowed quite nicely… Once we got the ball rolling, everything seemed good."

Ahead 3-0, the Brewers cruised through singles. Morgan Fitzgerald defeated Dimisko, 6-1, 6-0, for No. 4 singles before Courtney Geiss shut out Heaviland, 6-0, 6-0, to clinch the team victory at No. 2.

No. 1 singles was perhaps the most exciting match of the day, as Kate Christensen took down Ying, 7-5, 6-3 before Van Noy defeated Jubert, 6-4, 6-3, for No. 3. Becker took care of Hering, 6-1, 6-0, in the fifth spot before Morgane Flournoy rounded the day with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Redburn.

"As always, I'm really proud of the way this team played and the way they carried themselves through the match," Levine said. "Looking forward, we have a match tomorrow against St. Lawrence, and that should be a little more telling."

The Vassar women's tennis team heads to Canton, NY, where it will take on St. Lawrence University on Sunday at 10 a.m.