Laso Shines In Vassar Setback

Photo is courtesy of Vassar College

TROY, NY  — Juan Felipe Laso came out victorious in both doubles and singles, as the Vassar College men's tennis team fell to rival Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on the road Sunday, 5-4.

With the loss, the Brewers drop to 7-12, while the Engineers improve to 6-7.

"Ever since I've been here, RPI has been a big rival of ours," said third-year coach Alex Wong. "Each
match becomes a little more heightened… We know that it's impactful to the standings in the Liberty League and possibly making the Liberty League tournament. There's a lot on the line every time we play them. We know they're a good team, so there's a lot at stake."

RPI sits third in the Liberty League standings, while Vassar is close behind at fourth. With three matches remaining in the regular season, the Brewers are working to secure the best possible seed for the Liberty League Championships, which begin May 7.

Laso locked in for the Brewers for an incredible showing. The junior first teamed up with partner Alexander Luckmann to defeat Suryanish Patel and Sundar Devakottai at No. 3 doubles, 8-3. That marked the lone doubles win for Vassar, as Daniel Cooper and Nick Zuczek fell at one, 8-4, while Nick Litsky and Evan Udine lost at two, 8-4.

Laso continued to find success in singles, taking down Anthony Kim at four, 6-4, 7-5.

"Juan Felipe had a good day," Wong said. "He played a solid doubles match, got us a win there. He played a good player in singles, was down the second set, 5-love, and was able to come back and win, 7-5, so that just showed a lot of heart on his part."

Nick Lee also had a comeback win, taking No. 6 singles, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, against Devakottai after falling in the first set.

"I thought the guys fought hard," Wong said. "We had a couple of matches in which we were down pretty big in the sets and came back and won them, so it just showed a lot of character and a lot of fight from the guys."

Jamie Anderson was the third Brewer to find success in singles, defeating Patel at five, 6-1, 7-6(2).

"I thought Jamie, a freshman who's new to the rivalry against RPI, came out and played a solid match against his player," Wong said.

All other Brewers posted at least five points in singles. Litsky lost at one, 6-4, 6-1, against Wise, Cooper fell at two, 7-5, 6-4, against Uyeno, and Udine was beaten in three sets at three, 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-2, against Alain Gonzalez.

"We're obviously disappointed in the result, but we hope we get another opportunity to play them down the road," Wong said. "We know there are important matches over the next couple weeks, and we're looking forward to getting ready for them."

Vassar men's tennis returns to Poughkeepsie for a match against The College of New Jersey on Wednesday, April 20 at 3:30 p.m.