NORTHAMPTON, MA (February 24, 2018) -- The Vassar College women's tennis team traveled to Smith College in Northampton, MA Saturday to start its title defense for the fourth straight season at the 2018 Seven Sisters Championships, with action being held at the Smith College Indoor Track and Tennis Center. 

The Brewers (4-1) started the four-match weekend with a pair of 5-0 wins over Smith College and Mount Holyoke College, but the second match with the Lyons was not as easy as the score line would appear. Also, the format of the Seven Sisters Championships makes it so that players can play only once in a certain match, not being able to double up in both singles and doubles. 

VC got action started early in the day with a blanking of host Smith College, as the Brewers took started with an 8-1 win at No. 1 doubles by senior Dasha Ivenitsky and sophomore Vista Grinde. In No. 2 doubles, senior Lauren Difazio and freshman Rachael Hahn had no problems in earning an 8-1 win. 

In singles play with the Pioneers, VC's No. 1 player Courtney Geiss picked up the straight set with with a 6-2, 6-4 defeat of Samantha Peikes of Smith. Junior Morgane Flournoy posted her first win of the 2017-18 season after returning from her semester abroad in the fall with a 6-2, 6-1 win at No. 2 singles, and sophomore Ashley Fair fended off a game Joanna Kim to win in a third-set tiebreaker 6-7 (4), 6-2, 10-6. 

In the afternoon match with Mount Holyoke, VC earned a quick lead at No. 2 doubles as Ivenitsky and freshman Sarra Yekta made quick work of Madison Rosen and Joy Maran with an 8-1 win. That's when things got very difficult for the defending champs, as the Brewers needed tie-breaks in each of the last four matches to earn wins. 

In the No. 1 doubles position, sophomore Tara Edwards and Flournoy defeated Ching-Ching Huang and Ishita Tibrewal 9-8, claiming the tiebreaker 7-4 to put the Brewers up 2-0 going into singles. In individual action, freshman Meghan Rodick dropped the opening set to Catherine Peabody 6-2 but powered back with a 7-5 second set win to force a super-tiebreaker. Once there, Rodick controlled the extra set with a 10-2 win. 

The Brewers got another tough win at No. 2 singles, as Geiss earned a 6-2 first-set triumph but saw Anya Gerasimova respond with a 6-4 win in the second. In the tiebreaker, Geiss pulled away to pick up the 10-6 win and the match. In the final singles performance, Fair won six of the seven games in the first set with Clara Wang, but the Lyon registered a 7-5 win in the second to send the match to another tie-breaker. But like the others Saturday, Vassar earned the win as Fair chalked up the 10-5 win. 

Vassar finishes play tomorrow in the Seven Sisters Championships, taking on Bryn Mawr College in the morning at 11:30 a.m. before battling No. 32 Wellesley College at 2:30 p.m. from Smith's ITT Center.

Vassar College 5, Smith College 0
Feb 24, 2018 at Northampton, MA (Smith ITT Center) 
Singles competition
1. Courtney Geiss (VCWT) def. Samantha Peikes (SMITH) 6-2, 6-4
2. Morgane Flournoy (VCWT) def. Allison Ahern (SMITH) 6-2, 6-1
3. Ashley Fair (VCWT) def. Joanna Kim (SMITH) 6-7 (4-7), 6-2, 10-6

Doubles competition
1. Dasha Ivenitsky/Vista Grinde (VCWT) def. Emma Essenmacher/June Lee (SMITH) 8-1
2. Lauren DiFazio/Rachael Hahn (VCWT) def. Kara Van Allen/Tess Ostoyich (SMITH) 8-1

Match Notes
T-2:30 A-40

Vassar College 5, Mount Holyoke College 0
Feb 24, 2018 at Northampton, Mass. (Smith College) 
Singles competition
1. Meghan Rodick (VCWT) def. Catherine Peabody (MHC) 2-6, 7-5, 1-0 (10-2)
2. Courtney Geiss (VCWT) def. Anya Gerasimova (MHC) 6-2, 4-6, 1-0 (10-6)
3. Ashley Fair (VCWT) def. Clara Wang (MHC) 6-1, 5-7, 1-0 (10-5)

Doubles competition
1. Tara Edwards/Morgane Flournoy (VCWT) def. Ching-Ching Huang/Ishita Tibrewal (MHC) 9-8 (7-4)
2. Dasha Ivenitsky/Sarra Yekta (VCWT) def. Madison Rosen/Joy Maran (MHC) 8-1

Match Notes
Mount Holyoke College 1-3
Vassar College 4-1