Results: Coast Guard (PDF) | Bard (PDF)
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – After saving three match points,
Jamie Anderson (Constantine, KY) rallied for a 7-6, 5-7, 7-6 win at No. 3 singles that clinched a 5-4 season-opening victory over Coast Guard (1-0) for the Vassar College men's tennis team on Saturday morning. The Brewers (2-0, 1-0 Liberty) then defeated Bard (0-3, 0-2 Liberty) in their Liberty League opener later on Saturday at the Josselyn Tennis Courts.
"A great day for Jamie today," Head Coach
Alex Wong said. "He's our captain and we needed him to step up today, and he did in both doubles and singles. In singles, it was just a huge effort to fight off match points and come back to win it with the match on the line. I'm very proud of the way that he and everybody on the team fought against a very tough Coast Guard team."
Anderson and
David Gandham (Ann Arbor, MI) picked up Vassar's only doubles win against Coast Guard. Playing in the No. 2 position, they defeated Kyle Fager and Chris Lansing 8-6. At No. 1 doubles, Coast Guard's Tom Hackett and Jack Phillips beat
Jeremy Auh (Scottsdale, AZ) and
Adam Krueger (Bay Village, OH) 8-3, while the Brewers' No. 3 tandem of
Allen Sokolov (Woodland Hills, CA) and
Mathew Yee (Sha Tin, Hong Kong) dropped an 8-4 decision against Arthur Wicke and Lucas Aurora.
Hackett and Phillips also earned singles wins for Coast Guard. Hackett beat Gandham 6-2, 7-6 in the No. 1 spot, while Phillips defeated Auh by a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 count at No. 6 singles. Vassar, however, won at the No. 2, 4 and 5 singles positions to even the match. Yee topped Fager 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 at No. 2 singles, and No. 4 Sokolov also recorded a three-set victory, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 over Lansing. Krueger, meanwhile, defeated Arora in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2 at No. 5 singles.
That meant the result of the No. 3 singles match between Anderson and Wicke would determine the overall winner. Anderson won the first set tiebreaker, 7-5, before dropping the second set. He faced three match points in the third set, but rallied to take the tiebreaker, 8-6, to clinch the victory for Vassar.
"Coast Guard is a great team and we knew that it would be a battle," Wong said. "We were fortunate to pull it off, and it took a team effort to do so."
In the Brewers' second match of the day, they took on Liberty League rival Bard and quickly seized control by winning all three doubles matches. Vassar's No. 2 and 3 teams both earned 8-0 victories, while
Nicolas Dimaria (New Hyde Park, NY) and Yee notched an 8-1 triumph over Satchel Fisher and Immanuel Zion in the No. 1 position.
Nick Lee (Larchmont, NY) and
Nick Zuczek (Westerly, RI) beat Zayd Normand and Daniyal Zafar in the No. 2 spot, while
Mihajlo Ivanovic (Belgrade, Serbia) and Auh played against Lyle Healey and Devon Wall at No. 3 doubles.
Vassar also earned four 6-0, 6-0 wins in singles play. Ivanovic defeated Norman in the No. 3 position, while Demaria knocked off Healey in the No. 4 spot. The Brewers' No. 5, Lee, topped Zafar, and Zuzcek beat Wall at No. 6 singles. After a tight first set at No. 1 singles, Gandham notched a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Fisher. Auh then completed the Vassar sweep by topping Zion 6-0, 6-2 in the No. 2 singles match.
"I am happy about starting the season with two wins," Wong said. "Overall, we had nearly our entire roster contribute today, so it was definitely a full team effort. We are looking forward to getting better and finishing the fall season strong."
On Sunday, the Brewers will continue their fall season by traveling to the Williams Invitational.
