CAMBRIDGE, MA (September 18, 2009) – Nicole Pontee started her senior season off on the right foot, as she carried her No. 3 seed into the Round of 16 after notching wins in the first two rounds of play on Friday at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) New England Championships hosted by Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In the Round of 64, Pontee downed Jamie Haar of Middlebury, 6-2, 6-2 and in the second round, the senior defeated Amherst's Mimi Bell, 6-4, 6-0. Pontee will face Nikki Reich of Williams on Saturday morning.

"Nicole played very smart, aggressive singles matches today," said head coach Kathy Campbell. "Against Haar, Nicole opened the court well and was then able to put many balls away. In her match against Bell, both players held serve until late in the first set when Nicole was the first to convert on a break point.  After breaking Bell's serve, Nicole won the next eight games to win the match 6-4, 6-0."

Also competing in singles play for Vassar were junior Elizabeth Anderson, sophomores Jennifer Beckerman and Joy Backer. Anderson dropped a 6-2, 6-1 decision to Janice Lam of Tufts, Beckerman fell to Wheaton's Sarah Geocaris, 6-1, 6-4, and Backer, who faced a formidable opponent in No. 4-seeded Brittany Berckes of Amherst, lost a 6-4, 6-1 match.

"Joy was aggressive, yet steady, smart and determined against Berckes, a senior who plays No. 1 singles for Amherst and has qualified for the NCAA singles and doubles championships each of her three years to date," explained Campbell. "I was so pleased with how Joy managed the flow of the match with poise and confidence and went for her shots putting a lot of pressure on Berckes."

Both Beckerman and Backer rebounded in the consolation round, as Beckerman defeated Ariana Sanai from Brandeis, 6-1, 6-1, and Backer breezed past Emily Johnson of UMass Boston, 6-0, 6-0. On Saturday, Beckerman will face Babson's Jes Huang and Backer will play Anastasia Vishnevetsky of host MIT. Anderson dropped her consolation match to Sabrina Salmela from Simmons, 6-3, 6-1.

In doubles play, the duo of Pontee and Backer entered the tournament seeded No. 5-8 and faced Katie Brezinski and Tara Davidson of Colby. Playing their first official match together, Pontee and Backer squeaked by the Colby team, 9-7 to advance to the second round where they squared off against Kristin Alotta and Nikki Reich of Williams. The Ephs duo picked up an 8-2 win.

Beckerman and sophomore Nicole Block also competed in doubles, facing the No. 2 seeded Wellesley team of Mohona Siddique and Jacqueline Shen. Beckerman and Block fell, 8-3. The duo notched their first win of the season in the consolation bracket against Jamie Haar and Alexandra McAtee of Middlebury, 8-6. They will play Anuja Ankola and Jennifer Ouyang of Amherst on Saturday.

"Nicole and Jennifer played more aggressively and more consistently as the day progressed and found a nice doubles rhythm," said Campbell.

"This is an extremely challenging tournament featuring all of the top seven teams, including Vassar, in the 110-team Northeast Region," said Campbell. "All of these teams are ranked in the top 21 nationally, and there are at least five other teams regionally ranked between #9-15 represented in the tournament."