After a hard-fought battle on every court Tuesday, No. 24 Vassar secured a 6-3 win over No. 25 Westmont at the Abbott Tennis Courts. Westmont fell to 6-5 with the loss, while Vassar improved to 7-1.

The battle began in doubles play. On the No. 3 court, Vassar’s Kelly Barnett and Courtney Burks beat juniors Kristen Lee and Christina Klein, 8-6. Westmont picked up a victory at No. 2, where freshman Ilissa Matthews and senior Jennie Dunn won by the same score over Nicole Pontee and Jamison Steele.

At No. 1, meanwhile, Westmont freshmen Lauren Combs and Erin McGurty went the distance with Elysa Kliman and Krista Romita before falling to the Brewers duo, 9-8.

The battle continued in singles action, with half of the sets going to three sets. At No. 1, Vassar’s Pontee defeated Combs, 6-3, 6-4, while at No. 2 Mathews earned Westmont a point with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Barnett. At No. 5, Alexandra Jacobson gave Vassar a 4-2 advantage in the team score, defeating Christina Klein, 6-3, 6-4.

The No. 3 court saw McGurty win the first set for the Warriors, 6-3, before Kliman came back in the second set to win, 6-5. Kliman also prevailed in the third set, 7-5. With the team win clinched by Vassar, which now led 5-2, the final two matches would be played for pride.

At No. 6, senior Jennie Dunn came back in the second set to win, 6-4, after dropping the first set to Burks, 6-2. Burks picked up Vassar’s final point with a 6-3 win in the third set. At No. 4, Kristen Lee got off to a good start with a 6-4 win over Romita, but Romita responded and won the second set by the same margin. Four hours after the two teams first took the court, Lee finally brought an end to the battle with a 6-3 win in the third set against Romita.

Westmont goes on the road this weekend, taking on Division I opponent Cal State Fullerton (1-8) on Friday and Golden State Athletic Conference rival Hope International (0-9, 0-5) on Saturday.

No. 24 Vassar 6, No. 25 Westmont 3

Singles:
No. 1 — Nicole Pontee (Vassar) defeated Lauren Combs (Westmont) 6-3, 6-4
No. 2 — Ilissa Mathews (Westmont) defeated Kelly Barnett (Vassar) 6-2, 6-2
No. 3 — Elysa Kliman (Vassar) defeated Erin McGurty (Westmont) 3-6, 6-2, 7-5
No. 4 — Kristen Lee (Westmont) defeated Krista Romita (Vassar) 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
No. 5 — Alexandra Jacobson (Vassar) defeated Christina Klein (Westmont) 6-3, 6-4
No. 6 — Courtney Burks (Vassar) defeated Jennie Dunn (Westmont) 6-2, 4-6, 6-3

Doubles:
No. 1 — Elysa Kliman / Krista Romita (Vassar) defeated Lauren Combs / Erin McGurty (Westmont) 9-8
No. 2 — Ilissa Mathews / Jennie Dunn (Westmont) defeated Nicole Pontee/Jamison Steele (Vassar) 8-6
No. 3 — Kelly Barnett / Courtney Burks (Vassar) defeated Kristen Lee / Christina Klein (Westmont) 8-6

Ron Smith is Westmont College‘s sports information director.