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Skidmore College Athletics

Liberty League Champs 2021
1
Vassar VASSARW (5-1)
5
Winner Skidmore College SKI (6-1)
Vassar VASSARW
(5-1)
1
Final
5
Skidmore College SKI
(6-1)
Winner

Match Recap: Women's Tennis |

Thoroughbreds breeze past Vassar 5-1 for 10th straight Liberty League Championship

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.  – The Skidmore College women's tennis team waited 723 days to defend its Liberty League championship. After winning a ninth straight title in 2019 only to have the 2020 season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the top-seeded Thoroughbreds resumed their unprecedented title run with a tenth consecutive Liberty League championship Saturday afternoon, defeating second-seeded Vassar at the Wenger Tennis Courts.
 
Skidmore (7-1) earned the Liberty League's automatic bid into the upcoming NCAA Tournament, winning its 23rd consecutive league tournament match. All ten of Skidmore's Liberty League titles have come in this historic run. The Thoroughbreds have also defeated the Brewers in the championship final in each of the last four seasons. Vassar finishes its season at 5-2.
 
Skidmore earned the first two points of the match with the first and third doubles teams recording wins within a span of less than a minute. Risa Fukushige and Maya Lal gave the Thoroughbreds their first point with an 8-5 win over Frances Cornwall and Melina Stavropoulos at first doubles. The third doubles pairing of Audrey Soohoo and Sofia Carlson followed with an 8-3 win over Sara Ehnstrom and Nicole Pihlstrom. Vassar earned an 8-4 win at second doubles as Sofie Shen and Cara Kizilbash defeated Lily Feldman and Chantal Thongphok to keep the Brewers within striking distance.

Skidmore's depth in the lower half of the lineup proved to be the deciding factor. Katherine Almquist was first to finish, defeating Ehnstrom 6-0, 6-0 at fifth singles. Soohoo followed with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Pihlstrom to give the Thoroughbreds a 4-1 lead. Thongphok delivered the championship-clinching point, defeating Kizilbash 6-0, 6-2.

Fukushige, who picked up two tournament victories at first doubles and one at first singles, was selected as the tournament's Most Outstanding Performer. She was leading her match at first singles, 6-0, 5-0, when Skidmore clinched the championship.

The full NCAA Tournament bracket will be revealed on Monday.

Skidmore 5, Vassar 1

DOUBLES:
1. Fukushige/Lal (SKD) def. Cornwall/Stavropoulos, 8-5
2. Shen/Kizilbash (VAS) def. Feldman/Thongphok, 8-4
3. Soohoo/Sofia Carlson (SKD) def. Ehnstrom/Pihlstrom, 8-3
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2

SINGLES:
1. Risa Fukushige (SKD) leading Frances Cornwall, 6-0, 5-0 (unfinished)
2. Maya Lal (SKD) leading Melina Stavropoulos, 6-5 (unfinished)
3. Sofie Shen (VAS) leading Lily Feldman, 6-4
4. Chantel Thongphok (SKD) def. Cara Kizilbash, 6-0, 6-2
 
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