GENEVA, NY - It was a solid opening day of action for the Vassar women's tennis team, which got play started at the 2021 ITA Northeast Regional Tournament on Saturday. The event, which is hosted by William Smith College, saw five players earn victories in the opening round as two have advanced to round three for Sunday competition.

In the opening round of singles play, the Brewers had outstanding success as all five student-athletes grabbed victory. Sophomore Sofie Shen slid into the win column with a 6-1, 6-2 victory against Union's Sophie Brown. Senior Cara Kizilbash posted a 6-4, 6-1 win over Anusha Rangu from The College of New Jersey, while rookie Elysie Duley bested St. Lawrence's Rachel Caplan, coming from behind for a 1-6, 6-2, 10-4 win.

Senior Melina Stavropoulos wasa 6-0, 6-0 winner against Union's Dana D'Onofrio, while freshman Macey Dowd - the reigning Liberty League Rookie of the Week - was a 6-3, 6-1 winner over Hamilton's Lauren Holtzman.

In the second round of singles action, Shen was once again victorious with a 6-0, 6-4 win over TCNJ's Chase Eisenberg. Dowd also earned a victory, gutting out a fantastic 6-0, 4-6, 11-9 win against NYU's Karina Jensrud. Kizilbash shouldered a 6-0, 6-0 loss to NYU's Anastasiia Balyk, while Duley suffered a 6-0, 6-2 defeat to Skidmore's Lily Feldman. Stavroupoulos closed out the action with a tough 6-4, 6-4 loss to Skidmore's Katherine Almquist.

Round three action on Sunday will see Shen square-off against NYU's Carol Plakk, while Dowd will take on Rochester's Josie Libby.

Doubles action on the day saw Stavropoulos and Down partner up for an 8-4 victory over TCNJ's Rangu and Aira Abalos. Shen and Kizilbash also competed on Saturday, taking on TCNJ's Eisenberg and Alexa Vasile, but duo fell to the Lions pair by an 8-5 margin.

Play resumes tomorrow at 9am at William Smith College. Fans can tune in to various courts at this year's tournament via the tournament page at https://sites.google.com/view/hwstennis-tournament-central/home.