Skidmore News

Issue date: 4/24/09 Section: Sports

T.J. David '09 in a match against Hobart College on April 5. David helped the Thoroughbreds sweep the doubles portion of their semi-finals rematch against Hobart on April 25, leading to an 8-1 victory. [Click to enlarge]

The No. 20 ranked Skidmore men's tennis team continued its Liberty League dominance on Sunday, April 19, defeating Vassar College 5-4, bringing its season record to 15-2 and securing its second consecutive conference title. The Liberty League championship is Skidmore's fourth in the last five years.

The Brewers opened up with a 2-1 lead during the doubles portion of the match. The Vassar pair Michael Mattelson and Jeremy Rosen defeated Carl-Eric Girardin '11 and T.J. David '09 in the No. 1 doubles match while Luke Granger '12 Yahia Imam '11 fell to Vassar's Joshua Jasso and Peter Ludlow in the No. 3 match.

The Thoroughbreds staved off the shutout with a win by sophomores Spencer Cheng and Lorenzo Cabrera in the No. 2 match, defeating Brewer sophomores Max Willner and Gregory Katz 9-7.

Skidmore tied the score in the No. 1 singles match as Girardin avenged his earlier loss to Mattelson, defeating him 6-1, 4-6, 6-2. Vassar responded with consecutive wins over Imam and Cabrera, building their lead to 4-2 and putting them one match away from clinching the title.

With their backs against the wall, the Thoroughbreds stepped up, winning the remaining three matches to snatch away the championship. The highlight of the rally came in the No. 4 match between Cheng and Jasso. The two fought to a three-set tiebreaker, with Cheng eventually triumphing 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(8-6), keeping Skidmore in contention. Granger and fellow first year Ethan Bond won the remaining matches in straight sets, 6-4, 6-0 and 6-3, 6-0 respectively finalizing the championship for Skidmore.

The victory came on the heels of an 8-1 drubbing of Hobart College in the semi-final match the previous day. Girardin won both of his matches against the Statesmen, which, along with his win the next day, earned him the tournament MVP award. He was also recognized on Monday as Liberty League Co-Performer of the Week, along with St.. Lawrence University senior Jon Satkowski. St.. Lawrence finished third in the tournament.

Meanwhile, the No. 26 ranked women's team concluded its regular season with a pair of weekend wins over the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Brandeis University, giving them a 14-4 record for the season.

Sophomore Rachael Loeb went 4-0 for the weekend, also earning her Co-Performer of the Week honors, along with Vassar junior Nicole Pontee. Loeb defeated MIT first year Anastasia Vishnevetski, the No. 12 ranked player in the Northeast, 6-1, 6-4 in the No. 2 singles match on Saturday, and also teamed with Danika Robison '11 to defeat the No. 11 ranked MIT pair of Vishnevetski and Leslie Hansen, 8-5.

The women's team will next compete on Saturday, April 25 in the Liberty League Championships at Vassar.

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