Loutsenko earns All-American honors, singles title

Men's tennis junior Oliver Loutsenko (Bellmore, N.Y.) won the USTA/ITA Northeast Singles Championship last weekend to become the first in program history to earn All-American honors in singles. The victory makes him elgible to compete in the USTA/ITA Small College Championships Oct. 11-14 in Mobile, Ala. He cruised through the first few rounds before eventually defeating defending champion Yevgeny Perepelov of Hunter 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in the championship. As a team, Skidmore won 12 individual matches and four doubles matches in the tournament.

Volleyball posted a perfect 4-0 record on the week against Liberty League opponents. Last Friday night at the Williamson Sports Center, the Thoroughbreds opened with a 3-0 victory over Bard before defeating Clarkson 3-1 in a rematch of last year's Liberty League Championship. On Saturday at Union, Skidmore beat Vassar 3-1 and closed out the weekend with a 3-0 shutout against St. Lawrence. Junior Corinne Palmer (Montvale, N.J.) totaled 55 kills and 12 total blocks in the four matches while senior Mallory Mendelsohn (San Francisco, Calif.) chipped in with 121 assists and classmate Sam Friedman (Los Angeles, Calif.) tallied 66 digs and 11 service aces. The Thoroughbreds are now 11-4 over, 5-0 in league play and have won nine straight. They return to Union for the Interleague Challenge this Friday and Saturday, Oct. 5 and 6.

Field hockey suffered its first loss of the season to No. 2 Middlebury before coming back with a 5-1 victory over Williams on Friday. In the 2-1 Middlebury game, sophomore goalie Haley McDougall (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) posted a career-high 19 saves, while junior Annie Weis (Belmont, Mass.) and freshman Jenn Hanks (Nisakyuna, N.Y.) each tallied a defensive save. Against Williams junior Kelly Blackhurst (North River, N.Y.) accounted for all five goals, scoring four and assisting on the other to freshman Dani DeGregory (Greenwich, N.Y.). McDougall and classmate Amy Beck (Dayton, Ohio) combined to make 12 saves in the win. Skidmore is 9-1 overall and returns to Liberty League play Friday, Oct. 5, at Rochester.

Men's soccer went 1-1 in a pair of league road games this past week.  In a 3-2 win at RIT, senior Ike Okpoebo (Chelmsford, Mass.) had a pair of goals and sophomore Adam Beek (Kingston, Jamaica) scored the game-winner on a penalty kick.Freshman goalie Eli Kisselbach (Stamford, Conn.) made eight saves in the win and came up with another four saves in a 2-0 loss at No. 21 Hobart. The Thoroughbreds are 7-2-1 overall and 3-1-0 in league play. 

Women's soccer suffered a pair of Liberty League losses to RIT and No. 10 William Smith. Junior goalie Gab Lawrence (Yorktown, N.Y.) made three saves against RIT and came back with eight against William Smith. Skidmore is now 1-7-1 overall and travels to Vassar for a 2 p.m. start this Saturday, Oct. 6. ~ By Cody Berschwinger

Posted On: 10/3/2012