Women’s Basketball | Feb. 11-12 | 2-0
Women’s basketball went 2-0 this past week. On Friday, the Brewers cruised to an 83-42 victory over Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). Vassar was led by freshman Tova Gelb ’25, who scored a career-high 22 points in the victory, along with five rebounds, two assists and two steals. The first quarter saw Vassar build multiple leads, only for RIT to keep closing down the gap, keeping the game within reach. When the quarter ended, the Brewers were up 23-14 and never looked back from there, taking a 45-24 lead into halftime and burying any hope for the Tigers in the third quarter, which ended with Vassar going up 71-33. The Brewers received standout performances from the aforementioned Gelb; freshman Julia Harvey ’25, who had 15 points and six rebounds; and senior captain Sarah Gillooly ’22, who had 14 points and nine assists. The Brewers had a quick turnaround, playing their next game just a day later on Saturday against Skidmore. The Brewers took down the Thoroughbreds by a score of 75-64, led by an outstanding performance from captain Dani Douglas ’22 which included a game-high 28 points, eight of which were three-pointers. After being down at the end of the first quarter, Vassar built a lead in the second and were able to hold off Skidmore in the final two quarters as it seemed like Douglas hit a shot every time the Brewers needed it. Alex Lee ’23 had 10 points, three rebounds and two assists, while Emily Tincher ’23 had a game high of four blocks. The wins improved Vassar’s overall record to 16-6, including an immaculate 15-1 in Liberty League play. Next weekend the Brewers, who have already clinched a spot in the Liberty League Tournament, will finish out the regular season hoping to hold on to the number one seed when they take on William Smith on Friday and Ithaca on Saturday.
Men’s Basketball | Feb. 12 | W 78-66 vs. Skidmore
The Brewers punctuated their senior day this past Saturday with a 78-66 victory over Skidmore. After taking an early lead, things got rocky for the Brewers, who gave up ten unanswered points only to find themselves in a 12-6 hole in the first quarter. But the Brewers stormed back to take a 15-14 lead. The score remained tight for the rest of the half, which ended with a 7-2 run from Vassar to put the Brewers up 38-33 heading into halftime. In the second half, the Brewers took a bigger lead, going up 54-39 at one point, but Skidmore battled back and kept the game close for a while. Eventually, Vassar pulled away with a 6-0 run with less than five minutes to play, and free throws helped the Brewers seal the victory. Junior Zach Johnson ’23 had a monster game that included 21 points and 16 rebounds to record a double-double. Junior Jack Rothenberg ’23 added 19 points and seven rebounds and junior Avni Mustafaj ’23 had 15 points and six rebounds. The win moved Vassar to 15-6, including 11-4 in Liberty League play. Vassar wraps up the regular season next weekend at Hobart on Friday and Ithaca on Saturday.
Men’s Tennis | Feb. 12-13 | 1-1
Vassar men’s tennis opened their 2022 season with a close 5-4 loss to RIT this past Saturday. RIT took a 2-1 lead in doubles, with Vassar’s lone victory coming from the duo of sophomores Benjamin Almquist ’24 and Jay Wong ’24 defeating their opponents 8-1. In singles, the Brewers collected wins from Wong with his 6-4, 6-1 victory, senior Mihajlo Ivanovic ’22 who won 6-4, 6-1 in his match, and the tying victory came from sophomore Arun Guruswamy ’24 in three sets with a score of 6-2, 4-6, 6-4. But RIT took the final match to win the day 5-4. The next day, Vassar got their first win with a dominant 7-2 victory over Rochester. In doubles, the duo of Wong ’24 and Almquist ’24 got the victory again with a score of 8-1. Guruswamy ’24 and Ivanovic ’22 made it 2-0 with their nail-biter of a victory with a score 8-7 and freshman Arnav Agostinho ’25 and senior Matthew Yee ’22 pushed Vassar’s lead to 3-0 with their 8-7 win. In singles, Ivanovic won 6-3, 6-2; Wong battled back after dropping the first set 1-6 by winning two straight sets 6-4, 6-4; Agostinho won his match 6-3, 6-3; and freshman James Balon ’25 won his match 6-4, 6-0 to give Vassar the 7-2 victory. The Brewers play again this Saturday when they host Skidmore College.
Women’s Tennis | Feb. 12 | W 9-0 vs. Drew University
Vassar women’s tennis earned a sweep this past weekend over Drew University. The 9-0 victory included three victories in doubles and five victories in singles. In doubles, freshman Elyse Duley ’25 and senior Cara Kizilbash ’22 won handily 8-0 in their match, freshman Macey Dowd ’25 and junior Tatum Blalock ’23 also swept their opponent 8-0 and the duo of senior captain Melina Stavropoulos ’22 and sophomore Sofie Shen ’24 beat their opponents 8-1 to move Vassar to 3-0 at the end of doubles action. In singles, Blalock won 6-0, 6-1; Shen swept 6-0, 6-0; Dowd won 6-1, 6-0; Stavropoulos ’22 swept 6-0, 6-0; Kizilbash won 6-0, 6-1; and Duley closed it out with a 6-0, 6-1 victory to give Vassar the 9-0 sweep. Vassar will next face Bard on Friday February 25.