Poughkeepsie, NY – The Vassar College Men's Tennis team, the third seed, is set to meet sixth seeded Ithaca Friday morning at the Reis Tennis Center on the campus of Cornell University to begin the 2024 Liberty League Championship. Matches with the Bombers are scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m. with Live Scoring available for those unable to attend.
Vassar enters the conference tournament at 12-5 overall and earned the third seed in the event after completing the conference schedule with a 6-2 record. Ithaca holds a 7-11 overall record and earned the final spot in the tournament with a 3-5 mark against league rivals.
Doubles
- The Brewers finished the regular season with a 29-22 record in doubles play, including 16-8 mark against conference rivals.
- Vassar has had 13 unique doubles pairs over the course of the regular season.
- Pedro Cattaruzzi (Chatham, NJ) has been a part of a team-high 12 victories in doubles play.
- First Year Eugene Lee (Chico, CA) has been part off 11 doubles victories, winning eight times at the third slot and three more times at the top position.
Singles
- Vassar produced a 60-42 record in singles matches over the course of the regular season (.588), including a 32-16 (.667) mark in conference matches.
- Lee led the team in singles wins with 11, highlighted by a 7-1 mark at the third position for the Brewers.
- Senior Jay Wong (Hong Kong) produced a 10-7 record for Vassar, including eight victories at the top flight, to go along with a 6-2 record against conference opponents.
- Ethan Mantell (Hermosa Beach, CA) and First Year Henry Zhang (Zhengzhou, China) each enter the tournament with nine singles wins for the Brewers.
- Senior Benjamin Almquist (Union Pier, MI) rounded out the regular season at 7-7 in singles play, highlighted by four wins at the fourth slot.
Weekly Honors
- Lee has earned three Liberty League Rookie of the Week awards to date.
- Wong has collected two Singles Performer of the Week honors, winning back-to-back accolades April 15 and 22.
- Almquist was named the league's Singles Performer of the Week back on September 23.
- Nolan Kubiak (Neenah, WI) earned a Singles citation on March 11.
- The doubles pair of Kubiak and Mantell has been named the conferences Doubles Team of the Week twice.
- Lee and Cattaruzzi as well as Lee and Fernando Bauermeister (Winter Park, FL) have each been named the Doubles Team of the Week once to date.
Regular Season Vs. Ithaca
- The Brewers scored a 6-3 win at Ithaca on April 13.
- Vassar entered singles play down 2-1 with Cattaruzzi and Lee scoring the Brewers lone doubles win, an 8-6 victory, at the third position.
- Wong earned a 6-4, 6-4 win at eh top flight.
- Almquist earned a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 third singles win.
- Zhang won at the fourth slot by a scores of 6-4, 6-2
- Mantell posted a 6-2, 6-4 fifth singles win.
- Arnav Agostinho (Brooklyn, NY) went on to earn a 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 sixth singles win for Vassar.
Recent History Vs. Ithaca
- Vassar has won its last five decisions against the Bombers and six of the last eight meetings overall.
Recent Liberty League Championship History
- 2024 will be the seventh straight season there has been a conference tournament that the Brewers have qualified.
- Vassar has appeared in the league championship in each season it has been contested since 2017 (no championship in 2020 due to Covid-19) and has advanced to the semifinal round four times.
- Vassar is in search of its first Liberty League title since 2013 when it defeated Skidmore 5-2 in the championship final.
What's At Stake
- Friday's winner will advance to the semifinal round where it will take on second seeded Hobart on Saturday morning at 11:30 a.m.
