Poughkeepsie, NY – The Vassar College Men's Tennis team begins the spring season Saturday afternoon with a trip to #21 MIT. Matches with the Engineers are scheduled to begin at 3:00 p.m. at the J.B. Carr Tennis Bubble in Cambridge, MA.
 
At A Glance: Vassar is coming off a strong fall season that saw the Brewers score a 9-0 win over Bard in its lone dual match of the first semester.
 
In addition to topping Bard, the Brewers had several standout performances at the ITA Northeast Regional, placing two doubles pairs in the final four of the event. The fourth seed in the tournament, the team of Nolan Kubiak (Neenah, WI) and Ethan Mantell (Hermosa Beach, CA), dropped a tightly contested 8-7 (7-5) decision to the top seed in the semifinal round.
 
The duo of Jay Wong (Hong Kong) and Eugene Lee (Chico, CA) also advanced to the semifinal round of the main doubles draw, falling to their opponents from RPI.
 
In the singles draw, Benjamin Almquist (Union Pier, MI) won a pair of matches over the first two days of the event to reach the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinal round, Almquist battled hard in a 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 defeat to Tsubi Okada from RPI.
 
Looking Ahead: Vassar returns 10 players from the 2022-23 team that finished with a 12-6 overall record and a 6-2 mark in Liberty League play and will open Saturday's match ranked in a tie for 33^rd in the latest ITA Top-40 Poll. The Brewers topped St. Lawrence in the First Round of the 2023 Liberty League Championship before suffering a hard fought 5-4 loss to second seed Hobart in the Semifinal.
 
The Brewers featured a trio of All-League selections in singles play last season, including Fernando Bauermeister (Winter Park, FL) who was tabbed First Team All-League and the Liberty League Rookie of the Year. Bauermeister concluded the season with an 11-7 singles record playing at the top flight.

In addition to the singles accolades, Bauermeister teamed with Kubiak to earn First Team doubles honors a season ago. Playing at the top doubles flight, the duo posted a 12-6 record for the Brewers, including an 8-1 mark against conference opponents.
 
Almquist was named Second Team All-Liberty League in singles in 2022-23 after compiling an 9-7 record playing at the second position. Kubiak collected Honorable Mention honors in singles play last season after going 12-4 in singles play overall and 5-2 in Liberty Legue action.
 
Mantell went 15-3 in singles play as a First Year, winning five times at the fifth slot and nine times at sixth singles. Mantell also excelled in doubles play, helping to earn a 9-3 record.
 
Arnav Agostinho (Brooklyn, NY) returns to the Brewers lineup after producing an 8-5 record a season ago in singles play to go along with a 4-3 mark teamed with Pedro Cattaruzzi (Chatham, NY) in doubles action.
 
Wong is also back in the fold for Vassar in 2023-24 after winning nine singles matches, including eight at the top position in 2021-22. Wong also teamed with Almquist two seasons ago to post a 12-6 doubles record at the second flight.
 
Vassar also welcomes back Arun Guruswamy (Hauppauge, NY), Miles Sondergaard Jensen (Newton, MA) and Nihal Kothari (Mumbai, Maharashtra, India) in 2023-24. Guruswamy totaled nine doubles wins at the third flight two seasons ago, while Kothari scored four singles wins in 2021-22.  Sondergaard Jensen finished up the 2023-24 season with five combined victories, including four victories in doubles play.
 
Newcomers: The Brewers add a pair of talented newcomers to the roster in Lee and Henry Zhang (Zhengzhou, China). Lee finished the fall with a win over Bard at second singles to go along with a win at the Haverford Invitational and a trio of victories teamed with Wong in doubles play at the ITA Northeast Regional.
 
Zhang earned the first victory of his career at fourth singles against Bard and went on to post two combined wins at Haverford along with a singles victory at the ITA Northeast Regional.
 
Head Coach: Tina McDermott returns for a sixth season at the helm of the Men's Tennis program and holds a 41-29 overall record and a 28-11 mark against Liberty League rivals.
 
The Schedule: Vassar is ready for a challenging schedule that features eight opponents ranked in the most recent ITA Top-40 Poll. Following Saturday's tilt at MIT, Vassar will head west to play six matches, including four against ranked opponents.
 
The home schedule begins against Bates on March 20 with Liberty League play commencing at Hobart on March 23.
 
The Brewers will play home matches against league rivals St. Lawrence, Union and Skidmore, while traveling to Hobart, Ithaca, RIT and RPI.