Nov. 14, 2008

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY - The Pioneer women kicked of their dual meet season on Sunday by going 2-1 at the Vassar Invitational. The women defeated CCNY 19-8 and Yeshiva 24-3 but lost to Vassar 16-11.

Leading the way for the Pioneers was the epee squad , which was a combined 21 and 6 on the day. Leading the way were Allison Ratis (8-1), Amanda Green (7-1) and squad captain Ali Roach (4-1). Saber was a combined 15-12 for the day and was led by team captain Krista Bacci who went 5-2. The foil squad had a 17-10 day and were led by squad captain Jo Siskidis (6-2) and Casey Zimmermann (6-2).

"We were in control against both Yeshiva and CCNY and lost a close match to Vassar," commented head coach Dr. Tom Vrabel. "Against Vassar, their best dominated our best, and it was enough to give them the victory. We lost four of the give bouts that went to 4-4. If we had won 4 of the five wqe would have won the match 14-13. Vassar's intensity and focus was a bit better than ours was today. We should be ready for them when we meet in league play in February."

Despite the loss to Vassar, several Pioneers had impressive performances. "The biggest pleasant surprise of the day was Casey Zimmermann," said Vrabel. "Casey had a great day and was one touch from being undefeated against Vassar. I look for her to continue this level of performance when we get to our first league meet later this month."

"For us to be successful this year, the epee squad has to lead the way and they did establish themselves today as our strongest weapon," Dr. Vrabel continued. "They know what is expected of them and I look for them to come through this season. Considering that we started three freshman and have only one senior on the team, we should be fine as the season progresses. The biggest issue with such a young squad is consistency, and that gets addressed with hard work in practice."

The women are back in action on Nov 21st with matches against Harvard and Tufts in Cambridge and against seven teams and the first Northeast Conference meet at UNH on Nov. 22nd.