Women's Tennis Falls to Vassar In NCAA Tournament Play

AMHERST, Mass. -- The Vassar College women's tennis team defeated Bridgewater State College this afternoon, 5-0, indoors at Mount Holyoke College to advance through the first round of the 2008 NCAA Division III Women's Tennis Tournament. The Brewers will face Bowdoin College in tomorrow's NCAA Second Round at 2 p.m. at Amherst College.

In doubles play, Vassar took a three-match sweep of the Bears, including a pair of 8-0 shutout wins. In the top match, the combination of senior Elysa Kliman (Toronto, ON) and Krista Romita (Baltimore, MD) proved too much for Bridgewater's Angie Bizzozero (Norwell, MA) and Jessica Francis (West Barnstable, MA). The Brewer duo of Kelly Barnett (Toronto, ON) and Courtney Burks (Decorah, IA) also picked up an 8-0 win at number three, while teammates Nicole Pontee (Flossmoor, IL) and Jamison Steele (Newport Beach, CA) won 8-3 at number two.

With a commanding 3-0 lead after doubles in what was very impressive performance from Vassar, the Brewers needed just two of the following six singles bouts to advance through from today's action.

Vassar grabbed a 4-0 team lead on a very impressive performance from Pontee at the top singles match. The sophomore Brewer broke Rachel Elman's (Dighton, MA) serve all match long with a combination of power and accuracy for return winners, ultimately walking away with a 6-0, 6-0 result.

The fifth and final team point for Vassar was earned by number six seed Burks who also ran away with a 6-0, 6-0 result. With the win, match officials halted play on the four remaining singles matches, all of which the Brewers held commanding leads.

For the second match of the day, a Liberty League Conference member came away from the opening round of competition at the Amherst Regional with a win. For both Skidmore and Vassar, a win today leads to a meeting with a NESCAC powerhouse tomorrow. Skidmore will face Amherst at 11 a.m., before Vassar takes on Bowdoin at 2 p.m.