Nicole Block (pictured) and Jennifer Beckerman competed in consolation doubles play on Saturday
CAMBRIDGE, MA (September 19, 2009) – The field of 64 has been whittled down to four at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Women’s New England Championships and Vassar senior
Nicole Pontee is among those four after two wins on Saturday. Pontee, seeded No. 3, will face the No. 1 seed, Julie Browne of Tufts on Sunday in the semifinals of the ITA Championships, hosted by Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Pontee advanced through the round of 16 with a 6-2, 6-1, win over Nikki Reich of Williams. In the quarterfinals, Pontee pulled out a three set win over Emily Lombardi of Bowdoin, 6-3, 0-6, 6-0. With the win, Pontee advanced into new terrain, bettering her quarterfinal finish of last season.
Also competing for Vassar in singles play on Saturday were sophomores
Jennifer Beckerman and
Joy Backer, playing in the consolation bracket. Beckerman advanced to the quarterfinals after defeating Jes Huang of Babson, 7-5, 6-3, but then dropped a tough 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 decision to Wesleyan’s Sarah Miller. Backer dropped her match, 7-6(5), 6-1, in the round of 16 to Anastasia Vishnevetsky of host MIT, who received a No. 9-16 seed in the initial singles bracket.
In doubles play, Beckerman and sophomore
Nicole Block defeated Jamie Haar and Alexandra McAtee of Middlebury, 8-6, and then fell to Amherst's Anuja Ankola and Jennifer Ouyang, 8-4.