TROY, NY (April 30, 2016) — The Vassar College women's tennis team built momentum going into the postseason with a 6-3 win at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on Saturday.
"I think it was a really good win before the League Championships," coach Bruce Levine said. "We had some great play. Everybody's now starting to click. They're working hard."
With the win, the Brewers improve to 13-7 overall and 6-1 in conference play, while the Engineers fall to 6-10 and 3-4 in the Liberty League.
Vassar is tied with St. Lawrence University (13-6, 6-1) and Skidmore College (9-8, 6-1) for first place in the Liberty League standings, while RPI is fifth and therefore does not qualify for the tournament, which begins May 7.
The Brewers dominated doubles. Lauren Stuaffer and Kate Christensen opened the match with an 8-3 win over Pooja Ganesh and Andrea Valencia at two, while Hanna McGuire and Shayna Becker secured an 8-5 victory over Emily Laurilliard and Melanie Frank at one.
"One doubles had a tough match last week against William Smith and turned around and beat a really good team today," Levine said. "I was really impressed with them. They're playing great tennis, and they're doing all the things they need to be doing to prepare for the Liberty Leagues."
The Engineers prevented a doubles sweep with a 9-8 (8-6) win over Kelsey Van Noy and Morgane Flournoy at three.
Moving onto singles, Connie Yoo struck first, posting a 6-1, 6-0 win over Emily Aaldenberg at six. Becker kept the momentum rolling with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Ganesh at four.
"Connie Yoo at six, and Shayna Becker at four have both been great," Levine said. "Shayna Becker had a great match last week and a great match today. She just blew through both of her opponents, and it's great to see. Connie Yoo is like a block of granite at number six."
Christensen secured her second win of the day, handing Frommer a 6-0, 6-0 bagel at one to secure the team victory. Then Flournoy bounced back with a hard-fought win, beating Nisha Rajamohan 6-4, 3-6, 10-5 at five.
"Morgane Flournoy won a tiebreaker for the third, which she hadn't done yet this season," Levine said. "So I feel really good for her for doing that."
The Engineers posted their first two singles victories in the day's finals matches. Melanie Frank beat Van Noy 6-2, 2-6, 10-4 at three, while Laurilliard defeated Courtney Geiss 6-4, 3-6, 10-8 at two.
"Courtney Geiss played a great match last Saturday, and she played a really good match today, She came up just shy," Levine said. "Kelsey Van Noy played a great match. Came up a little bit short, but it was just points here, points there."
Vassar women's tennis travels to Ithaca, NY to play in the Liberty League Championships on Saturday, May 7.
"I would say that we're hungry, which is great," Levine said. "I think we're on the right path. We're all looking forward to it. As always, I'm really proud of this team."
—VASSAR—
