POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (April 2, 2016) — The Vassar College women's tennis played a rivalry match to remember, edging No. 19 Skidmore, 5-4, in a thriller on Saturday.

"I think they showed what they're made of today," coach Bruce Levine said.

With the win, Vassar improves to 7-6 overall and 4-1 in conference play, while Skidmore falls to 6-5 and 6-1 in the Liberty League. The Thoroughbreds had won 40 Liberty League matches prior to the upset, making the victory even sweeter for the Brewers. 

Vassar dominated doubles to set the tone for the rest of the match. Morgane Flournoy and Kelsey Van Noy defeated Zoe Chodak and Alexa Goldberg, 8-5, at No. 3 doubles to start things off on the right foot. Then duo Hanna McGuire and Shayna Becker beat an All-American team of Madie Benn and Michelle Fuca, 8-4, at one to secure the doubles victory. Kate Christensen and Morgan Fitzgerald fought every point at two, but were ultimately edged, 8-6, by Caroline Finnegan and Brianna Greene. 

"That No. 1 doubles match sort of set us up," Levine said. "And then when Morgan Fitzgerald won at four relatively quick, she won straight sets, that was like, 'OK, this can happen.' You can sort of see the light at the end of the tunnel."

Taking a 2-1 lead into singles, Vassar continued to roll. Fitzgerald quickly took the first match, 6-2, 6-2 at No. 4 against Erica Meno to secure her 11th victory in singles of the seasonl

But the Thoroughbreds bounced back to tie the match at 3-all. Fuca beat Van Noy at three, 6-2, 6-3, while Greene edged Courtney Geiss at two, 7-5, 7-5. 

Becker put the Brewers back on top with a grind-it-out win at five, topping Chodak in three sets, 6-4, 5-7, 6-3. And freshman Flournoy clinched the team win with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Goldberg at six. 

"We're a good team," Levine said. "We're just young. We haven't played a lot of matches where we're up against the fence and somebody's getting ready to give us a punch. Here's a match where we did, and we won."

The day's final match went all the way to a third set, but Benn ultimately beat Christensen 7-6, 1-6, 6-1 at No. 1 singles. Still, it was a hard-fought match against a high-quality opponent.

"I'm impressed with the whole team," Levine said. "The fact that they could pull this win off makes me happy."

The Vassar women's tennis team hopes to carry this momentum into the Seven Sisters Championships. The defending champion Brewers will host the event and will play Bryn Mawr College (Saturday, April 9 at 9 a.m.), Smith College (April 9 at 12:30 p.m.), Mount Holyoke College (Sunday, April 10 at 10:30 a.m.) and Wellesley College (April 10 at 3 p.m.)