SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - The 15th-ranked Skidmore College women's tennis team put up a valiant effort, but fell short in its upset bid against No. 5 Williams, in a 5-4 decision at the Wilton YMCA Saturday afternoon.

Skidmore drops its first contest of the season, falling to 5-1. Williams wins its first match of the season to improve to 1-1.

Renee Karchere-Sun led the Thoroughbreds with a pair of victories. In singles, Karchere-Sun put up a dominant performance at No. 3, blowing by Chloe Henderson by a 6-1, 6-1 score. In doubles, she teamed up with Risa Fukushige at No. 1, eking out an 8-7 (10-8) victory over Henderson and Rachel Cross.

Skidmore won two other singles matches. At. No. 4, Lily Feldman defeated Julia Pham by a 6-3, 6-4 score. At No. 6, Audrey SooHoo defeated Sarah Yang by a 6-1, 6-2 score.

With a split after two doubles matches, the Thoroughbreds nearly pulled off a win at No. 3. Feldman and Sofia Carlsson jumped out to a lead against Korina Neveux and Emily Zheng, but the Williams pair came back, defeating the Skidmore duo in a dramatic 8-7 (11-9) result. Emily Zheng would clinch the match at No. 5, defeating Laura Swenson by a 6-0, 6-2 score.

"Disappointing loss, but hard to be too upset," said head coach Curt Speerschneider. "We're young and just learning how to play in these situations.  We had a few opportunities to close it out, but Williams is always one of the hardest teams to win a match point on.  It's been a very long time since we've been competitive with Williams, so it's definitely a step forward for the program and I think proves just how far we've come in the last few years.  We're confident moving forward.  There's nothing we want more than to get back out on the court next weekend."

Skidmore heads to Florida for a few days, before traveling north to face some of the nations best talent in Virginia at the Blue-Grey Invitational. The Thoroughbreds will take on host No. 17 Mary Washington in the opening match on Friday, March 15 at noon.