Vassar Women’s Tennis Edges Past Rensselaer

By Amie Canfield

LATHAM – Sophomore Sofie Shen clinched the match victory with a third-singles win as Vassar College edged past Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Liberty League women’s tennis action on Saturday afternoon at Tri-City Fitness. The 32nd-ranked Brewers move to 12-1 on the season, remaining perfect in league play with a 5-0 mark. The Engineers are now 9-7 and 3-2 in the Liberty League.

Action got going in doubles as Vassar took the early lead behind an 8-3 win at two from rookie Macey Dowd and junior Tatum Blalock as they defeated Lorna Flores Gonzalez and Krisia Flores Gonzalez.

Despite the momentum, it was the Engineers who responded with a pair of tight wins. From three, Sonya Khudyakov and Brooke Bauer won 8-6 over rookie Elyse Duley and senior Cara Kizilbash, while from one, Alex Mednikova and Rani Jones defeated senior Melina Stavropoulos and Shen, also by an 8-6 margin.

With the Engineers holding a 2-1 advantage, the Brewers responded with a win at two as Dowd won by retirement over Lorna Flores Gonzalez.

Rensselaer regained the lead by a 3-2 margin next at one as Mednikova bested Blalock by a 6-1, 6-0 score. The Brewers began to mount the comeback, beginning at four as Stavropoulos tied it at 3-all with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Nitya Subramaniam.

That effort was followed by a win by Kizilbash over Krisia Flores Gonzalez at five by a 6-1, 6-2 margin, followed by the match-clinching win by Shen. Facing-off against Jones at three, Shen gutted out a 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory to give Vassar the 5-3 lead.

RPI earned the final win as Khudyakov rallied for a 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (8-6) win over Duley from six.

Vassar is back on the court on Wednesday when it travels to Army for a 3:30pm match against the Black Knights.