Poughkeepsie, NY – The Vassar College Women's Tennis team opens play in the spring season on Friday when it takes on #23 Swarthmore in a true road match and Saturday when it tussles with #27 Mary Washington at Swarthmore. Friday's contest is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. with Saturday's tilt set for 12:00 p.m.
 
At A Glance: Vassar returns five players from the last season's squad which produced a 12-6 overall record and a 7-1 mark against Liberty League opponents on its way to appearing in the Liberty League Championship Final.
 
The Brewers welcome back a pair of First Team All-Liberty League singles performers in Erin McCusker (Norton, MA) and Macey Dowd (Orinda, CA). McCusker also was part of a First Team doubles pair with Dowd teaming with Iris Li (Palo Alto, CA) for a Second Team citation in doubles play.
 
McCusker closed the 2022-23 spring season with a 12-2 singles record, including a perfect 8-0 mark at second singles. McCusker also picked up 10 doubles victories a season ago to finish with 22 combined triumphs.
 
During the Fall season, McCusker advanced to the ITA Cup in Rome, GA after appearing in both the singles and doubles final at the ITA Northeast Championship.
 
Dowd concluded the 2022-23 season with an 11-4 singles record playing at three different positions. Dowd and Li, who won 10 singles matches, teamed to post a 13-4 record in doubles play, including an 8-1 mark against Liberty League opponents.
 
Junior Elyse Duley (Charlotte, NC) produced a perfect 6-0 record last season to go along with an 11-6 mark in doubles play, while sophomore Ananya Krishnan (Chesterbrook, PA) completed a First Team that featured a 14-2 singles record.
Newcomers
A trio of newcomers enter the fold in 2023-24 in Maddie Kirby (Davidson, NC), Sara Lippin (Chappaqua, NY) and Esme Nix (Altadena, CA).
 
Kirby joins the Brewers squad after being named All-State in both 2019 and 2022 while playing at the Cannon School, while Lippin was an All-Section pick at Horace Greeley as both a junior and a senior. Nix enters the spring after playing at the top singles position at Los Angeles High School for the Arts and Flintridge Prep.
 
Head Coach
Marty Perry enters his third season at the helm of the women's tennis program and was tabbed the Liberty League Coaching Staff of the Year following the 2022-23 campaign. Perry has guided Vassar to a 28-9 overall record over the previous two seasons, including a 15-1 mark in Liberty League Play.
 
The Schedule
Following the weekend's matches in Pennsylvania against two ranked opponents, Vassar travels to California to play five matches on the West Coast, including two against ranked teams.
 
The home schedule begins on March 21 against Bates with Liberty League play commencing on March 23 at William Smith. The Brewers will also travel to league rivals Ithaca, RIT and RPI while hosting conference matches against St. Lawrence, Bard, Union and Skidmore.
 
The Brewers will also contest challenging non-conference matches against Rochester, St. Thomas Aquinas and New Paltz after returning from California.