ITHACA, NY – A memorable 13-year consecutive conference title streak came to an end as the top-seeded Skidmore College women's tennis team fell to second-seeded Vassar, 4-1, in the Liberty League Championship match on Sunday morning.

FROM HEAD COACH CURT SPEERSCHNEIDER
"All good things must come to an end. For us it's been 14 years of good things. We knew we had our work cut out for us to be able to win this conference another year. We did a lot of what we needed but came up just short at the end. We've grown accustomed to determining our success with championships, but it's important to realize that successful seasons can come in different forms.  This team achieved a lot this year.  We weren't as deep as we've been in the past, but we had several players work hard to fill some important roles to keep us moving forward. 

Our seniors did a tremendous job leading the group all year, while holding the top three spots against a ton of tough opponents. Hats off to Vassar. They played really well and held tough when we pushed them.  We obviously wish we could have pulled one more out, but the program is in great shape with a solid group returning and some exciting First Years coming in next fall.  This is the end of a nice streak, but also the beginning of better things to come."

DOUBLES MATCHES

• The Thoroughbreds took two out of three matches in doubles to secure the point, with the first doubles duo of seniors Konika Dhull and Grace Truong dominating Vassar's McCusker and Shen, 6-1.
• In second doubles, the Skidmore pairing of senior Ella Provost and freshman Mia Sarzynska clutched out a hard-fought 6-4 victory over the Brewers' Li and Dowd.

SINGLES MATCHES

• Skidmore put up a valiant effort in singles play despite initial losses in third, fifth and sixth singles, with Dhull, Truong and junior Beilynn Geiss placing themselves in position for match wins.
• In second singles, Truong put up a strong performance in a three-set thriller that saw the senior narrowly edged out in set three, 7-6, after losing the tiebreak 7-2 to the Brewers' Li and clinching the title for Vassar. The senior won set one 6-4, before falling 3-6 in set two.
• In first single, Dhull gutted out a nail-biting first set, 7-6, after winning the tiebreaks 7-5 against Vassar's McCusker. The senior was behind 2-3 in a tightly contested second set at the time the match was called.
• In fourth single, Geiss forced a third set after initially falling 4-6 in set one to Vassar's Lee and responding with a 6-2 second set victory. The senior was behind 4-0 in the third set at the time the match was called.

UP NEXT
The Thoroughbreds now await a possible at large bid for the NCAA Team Tournament. In addition, the doubles pairing of Dhull and Truong also await a bid to the NCAA Doubles Tournament later this month.