Interview with Kate Christensen Post-Match
Interview With Kathy Campbell Post-Match

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (February 25, 2017) – The Vassar College women's tennis team took a 2-1 deficit into singles play Saturday afternoon in action from Walker Field House, but the Brewers powered through singles to earn an emphatic 7-2 victory over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Liberty League play.

The match, which featured two teams ranked in the top 20 in the Northeast Region, got off to a slow start, literally. The match, originally scheduled for 2 p.m., was nearly an hour late getting started as the Vassar men's tennis team's match with the University of Rochester lasted nearly five hours. The delay may have benefitted the Engineers, as Vassar (4-1, 3-0 Liberty) struggled through doubles action.

The Brewers opened the match with a strong win though at No. 2 pairs, as junior Kate Christensen and sophomore Morgane Flournoy knocked off Tess Lubin and Andrea Valencia 8-1 to take a 1-0 lead in the match. Freshman Allie Kallish and partner Erica Frommer of RPI would pull their team even though, outlasting the Brewer No. 1 pair of Shayna Becker and Tara Edwards 8-6.

The final doubles match of the day was a thriller, going to a tiebreak that needed extra points in itself. Vassar's No. 3 doubles pair of Connie Yoo and Dasha Ivenitsky was right with Nisha Rajamohan and Mailani Neal, but couldn't finish off their opponents as RPI earned the final doubles point with a 9-8 (8) win.

That would be where the Brewers took control though, as Vassar took all six flights in singles play, with five of the six coming in straight sets. Yoo would bring Vassar even at two points apiece at No. 5 singles, as she earned a controlled 6-0, 6-0 whitewashing of Neal. Not to be outdone, Flournoy earned her second win of the day at No. 4 singles, putting Vassar on top 3-2 after making quick work of Rajamohan with scores of 6-2, 6-1.

VC would push its lead to 4-2 after Christensen doubled her win total for the afternoon with a straight set win over the impressive freshman Kallish of RPI. Christensen used her strong forehand and moved the powerful Kallish around to earn a well-fought 6-2, 6-4 win for Vassar's top player at No. 1 singles. The clinching match would come compliments of Ivenitsky, as the junior rolled to a 6-0, 6-2 win at No. 6 to push Vassar to 3-0 in the Liberty League.

Senior Shayna Becker had no issues at No. 2 singles in the first set, picking up a 6-2 win, but had to work a little harder in the second set before capturing another win for VC with a 7-5 second set triumph. The final match of the day featured Edwards and Lubin at No. 3 singles, and it turned out to be the best singles bout of the day. Edwards fell behind in the match after dropping the first set 6-4, but that didn't deter the strong newcomer. Edwards would fight back with a 6-2 win in the second set, and earned an 11-9 super-tiebreaker victory to pull to a tie with Christensen for the team lead in victories with 10 on the season.

Vassar  will  now gear up for a six-match road swing, including a trip to California for Spring Break. Before that though, VC will head to Geneva, NY next Saturday afternoon, March 4 at noon for a Liberty League match-up with the Herons of William Smith College.