Women’s Volleyball
Women’s volleyball had a strong weekend, finishing 3-1 in Liberty League action from Clark Gym at Rochester Institute of Technology. The Brewers knocked off St. Lawrence University 25- 17, 15-25, 25-23 and 25-15 and Bard College 25-19, 27- 25 and 25-18 to start things off on Friday.
Saturday, Vassar picked up a big win, upsetting Clarkson University, the preseason pick to win the Liberty League. The Brewers hit .273 for the match and posted 61 kills, the most this season, and most since doing the same against New Paltz on Oct. 24, 2012. Sophomore Devan Gallagher hit .348 for the match while posting 21 kills while sophomore setter Annie MacMillan had a career-high 54 assists. Senior Sierra Tobin recorded 22 digs, the most of all players on either side.
RIT ended Vassar’s seven-match winning streak on Saturday as they took the game 25-16, 28-26, 20-25 and 25-12. Gallagher posted 18 kills for Vassar, hitting .395 for the match. MacMillan also notched 30 assists and seven digs. Tobin tied for the match lead for digs with 16, while freshman Jorden Schreeder added 12 of her own.
Vassar continues Liberty League play against Bard College and RIT at Bard next Friday at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY.
Field Hockey
Junior forward Storm Sideleau had a standout performance Saturday, tallying three goals and an assist as the Brewers shut out the Roadrunners of Ramapo College at Weinberg Field. Sideleau’s hat trick came on the heels of sophomore Alyssa More’s three-score performance at Western Connecticut, marking the first time in 17 years that Vassar has posted hat tricks in back-to-back games.
Vassar jumped out to a 1-0 lead within the first 10 minutes as freshman Cristina Lopez assisted Sideleau to get the women on the board. Sideleau put another shot in the back of the net moments later. Sophomore Megan Caveny scored the third goal while freshman Sabrina Stacks knocked in a fourth. Vassar added two after the break, another from Sideleau as well as one from sophomore Emily Poehlein.
Goalies sophomore Paige Amico and freshman Liz Rotolo combined for the shutout, as Vassar outshot the Roadrunners 35-2.
The Brewers next travel to Wayne, NJ Monday evening to take on the Pioneers of William Paterson University.
Men’s Cross Country
The men’s cross country contingent took third at Rowan University’s Bill Fritz/Carlie Way Invitational this past weekend. Vassar finished with 64 points, behind Rowan with 25 and Salisbury University with 51.
Junior Michael Scarlett finished fifth out of 174 runners and was first under the wire for Vassar with a time of 25:36.57. Scarlett has finished first for Vassar in his last 11 races.
Freshman Adin Becker took sixth on the 8K course with a time of 25:40.90, not far off from Scarlett. Senior captain Gabe Fishman placed 17th overall with a time of 26:10.38, a new personal best.
Junior Philip Brown was just behind Fishman in 18th with a 26:11.00, also a personal best. Sophomore Luke Arsenault was the last point scorer for VC, finishing 24th with a time of 26:26.72.
The Brewers will next head to the Saratoga Invitational, hosted by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Oct. 1 in Saratoga Springs, NY.
Women’s Cross Country
Women’s cross country put six runners in the top 16 at the Bill Fritz/Charlie Way Invitational hosted by Rowan, where Vassar finished third overall. The Brewers finished with 49 points, six behind host Rowan and 15 points behind the overall team winners, New Paltz, 34 points.
Senior Lucy Balcezak finished the 6K course in 23:37.82, finishing sixth overall and first for the Brewers. Sophomore Christiana Prater-Lee finished close behind Balcezak, running a 23:38.61, good for eighth place. Freshman Meghan Cook ran a 23:55.23, her best so far, scoring points for Vassar with a 10th place finish.
Senior Laura MacDonald came in 11th place, recording a time of 24:04.06. Freshman Caroline Hartman added 14 points for VC, clocking in at 24:49.82, fifth among her teammates. Sophomore Cameron Daddis took 15th overall while fellow sophomore Megan Horn posted a 24:38.38, over a minute faster than her previous personal best.
The women next travel to the Saratoga Invitational Oct. 1 in Saratoga Springs, NY, hosted by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Men’s Soccer
The Brewer men’s soccer squad suffered its first setback of the year, falling 4-2 at Oneonta (4- 2-0) on Saturday.
Vassar took a 1-0 lead into the half thanks to a 28th-minute goal from junior defender Tanner Sands, with the assist courtesy of junior midfielder Reid Smith.
By the 64th minute the Oneonta Red Dragons had scored three unanswered goals on the Brewers. Vassar cut Oneonta’s lead in half in the 69th minute when junior Alex Gonzalez found the back of the net off a ball from fellow junior Jose Novas.
In the 78th minute, Oneonta, however, pushed their edge to 4-2, a lead they would preserve until the full-time whistle. Both teams had ample scoring opportunities, with Vassar taking 16 shots to Oneonta’s 15. Junior keeper Matt Marcelino took his first loss of the season, making eight saves.
On Tuesday, Vassar cruised past Elmira College 3-0 with goals coming from freshmen Henrik Olsson and Mattie Mrlik and Novas.
The men have their first Liberty League contest on Saturday against Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY.
Men’s Tennis
The men’s tennis squad opened fall proceedings Friday against non-conference opponent Williams College. The Brewers tested Williams up and down the lineup in singles and doubles but dropped the dual match 8-1 to the No. 12-ranked Ephs.
In doubles, freshman pair Jeremy Auh and Allen Sokolov kept things competitive at No. 1, going down to Taylor and Grodecki, 8-5. Seniors Alexander Luckmann and Nick Litsky dropped No. 2 Dubs to Sachin Raghavan and Rohan Shastri by the same score, while junior Juan Felipe Laso and freshman Dom Demeterfi pushed Christian O’Connor and Deepak Indrakanti all the way, coming up just short, 9-7.
Williams picked up wins at one and two singles, over Litsky and Sokolov respectively. Laso made quick work of Shastri at three singles, coming out on top 6-2 , 6-3. Sophomore Jamie Anderson dropped a tight match at four singles 3-6, 6-4, 8-10. Auh kept things interesting at No. 5, eventually taking the loss 6-2, 6-3, while Demeterfi fell 6-1, 6-1 at No. 6 singles.
The Brewers are back in action on Saturday, Sept. 24, traveling to Union College at 9 a.m. for Liberty League action, before returning home the same day at 4 p.m. to battle Bard College in more conference play.
Women’s Tennis
The Vassar College women’s tennis hosted Connecticut College, SUNY New Paltz and New York University for the annual Vassar Scramble over the weekend.
The squad played outside for the first day of competition, then finished with a day of doubles play indoors at Walker Field House on Sunday afternoon. The Brewers won 69 percent of their matches at the Scramble, going 27-12 overall on the weekend, 16-8 in singles and doubles combined on Saturday and 11-4 in dubs on Sunday.
Senior captain Shayna Becker was 2-0 in singles on day one, as was freshman Tara Edwards. Junior Kate Christensen went 3-0 in on the singles court while captain Connie Yoo was 2-0 in singles and 1-0 in doubles. The first day of play was shortened slightly as darkness forced play to a halt.
Becker combined for another win with Edwards, an 8-4 victory over Adrienne Sieverding and Stephanie Simon of Connecticut College on Sunday. Yoo, paired with freshman Ashley Fair for a tight 9-8 win over Connecticut College. Christensen teamed up with sophomore Morgane Flournoy for an easy 8-3 win over the Warrens of Connecticut. Juniors Morgan Fitzgerald and Dasha Ivenitsky got past another Connecticut College pair by a scoreline of 8-6.
Flournoy, Yoo, freshman Vista Grinde and junior Lauren DiFazio each have five wins to their names in dubs. Vassar has gone 20-9 in doubles thus far, making use of 16 combinations through two weeks of tournament play.
The Brewers will next take the court at the Intercollegiate Northeast Regionals at William Smith College next Saturday, Sept. 24.
Men’s Rugby
In its second divisional game of the fall, Vassar took down the Raptors of Bard College on Sunday.
Sophomore No. 8 Rob Eder ran in two tries on the afternoon, including Vassar’s first. Seniors Joe Simon and Seamus Taylor each put in a score shortly afterward, pushing Vassar out to an early 19-0 lead.
Bard got on the board in the first half but faced a 24-7 deficit going into the second 40 minutes. Vassar saw the game out by a scoreline of 48-26 over Bard, with Simon adding two more tries, juniors Nick Olkovsky and Trevor Kennish contributing one each.
Kennish also slotted two cons, while Sophomore Stephen Kpundeh added two of his own. For many Brewers, this was their first chance to compete in a live competitive game.
Vassar Rugby takes the field again this Sunday, Sept. 25, 2016 at Drew University, with kickoff set for 1 p.m.
Women’s Rugby
The Brewers had won their previous two matchups with University of Albany but faced some difficulty getting into proceedings in the opening minutes this weekend.
Vassar went up 5-0 early and went into halftime up 10-7 over the hosts. The Brewers broke things open in the second period, scoring 21 points to extend their lead over Albany, who would add a try near the end, but still dropped the result to the Brewers 31-12.
Senior captain Nathalie Freeman was responsible for two tries. Juniors Kayla Lightner and Sarah Mawhinney added one try each, as did sophomore Rachel Elson. Senior captain Mary Margaret McElduff also sent home four conversions on the day.
The Brewers B-side picked up another win on the day, shutting out Albany 38-0. Sophomore Jennie To scored two tries while senior Lizzie Bennet, juniors Michelle Urrutia and Claire Fondrie-Teitler tallied a try each. Sophomore Kaitlin Prado also scored a try while sophomore Makenna Emery was good on four cons for the Brewers, who scored 26 of their 38 points in the first half of play.
Women’s Rugby, A- and B-sides, will look to stay undefeated as they host Hofstra University this Saturday, Sept. 24th starting at 1 p.m.
Women’s Golf
Women’s golf competed at the Ann S. Batchelder Invitational this weekend at Wellesley College, finishing seventh as a team with a two-day score of 700.
Amherst College earned the team win with a score of 616, while Williams College recorded a 620 for second place. Freshman No. 1 Andrea Han posted back-to-back rounds in the 70s for Vassar, as she finished 10th overall with a two-day score of 158. Han was nine strokes behind the leader.
Another freshman, Qiwen Tan, posted an 85 on Saturday and a 92 Sunday for a weekend score of 177, finishing 34th. Senior Emily Prince improved her card nine strokes from Saturday to Sunday, posting an 86 on the second day of play.
Junior Annie Hsu also improved, shooting a 95 on Saturday, but an 89 on Sunday for the Brewers. Sophomore Evon Shay posted a 92 Sunday, eight strokes improved from the first day to finish with a 192.
The Brewers will head to the Mount Holyoke College Invitational at The Orchards Golf Course next weekend.