Another strong week as fall sports hit home stretch

Women's tennis had a strong performance at the NY State Championships, winning three of nine flights. Junior Lee Ford (Newton, Mass.) won the number-two singles flight and teamed with senior Nataly Mendoza (San Francisco, Calif.) to earn the number-one doubles championship. Freshman Caroline Hobbs (Lafayette, Colo.) was also a winner, taking the number-six singles flight. Skidmore was the top seed in all nine brackets as they advanced to the finals in seven flights with Mendoza and junior Robyn Baird (Potomac, Md.) dropping tough three-set matches in their individual finals. 

Volleyball continued its strong play, posting a 3-1 overall record this past week to improve to 18-5. The Thoroughbreds fell to Middlebury 3-0 on Tuesday before posting league wins over Vassar, RIT and Bard over the weekend. In league play, senior Sam Friedman (Los Angeles, Calif.) tallied 70 digs in the three wins highlighted by a 46 dig performance in a 3-2 win over RIT. Classmate Mallory Mendelsohn (San Francisco, Calif.) totaled 110 assists and 28 digs, while junior Corinne Palmer (Montvale, N.J.) finished the weekend sweep with 40 total kills.Skidmore has clinched a spot in the Liberty League tournament and improved to 8-0 in league play. They host Union this at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 16.

Men's tennis junior Oliver Loutsenko (Bellmore, N.Y.) finished seventh at the USTA/ITA Small College championships this past week in Mobile, Ala. After suffering a tough three-set loss in the first round to eventual runner-up Robert Kjellberg of NC Wesleyan, Loutsenko ended his weekend with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Mya-Smith Dennis of Gutavus Adolphus to secure seventh in the national tournament.

Field hockey went 1-1 in this week in a pair of road games, falling 2-1 at Utica before exploding for seven goals in Saturday's 7-2 win at Wheaton. Junior Kelly Blackhurst (North River, N.Y.) tallied the lone goal in the loss to Utica. Against Wheaton, freshman Dani DeGregory (Greenwich, N.Y.) tallied a hat trick, while Blackhurst added a pair of goals, freshmanJenn Hanks (Niskayuna, N.Y.) had a goal and an assist and senior Ceilidh MacNeill (Framingham, Mass.) finished with two assists. No. 11 Skidmore is now 10-4 overall and hosts St. Lawrence at 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 20.

Men's soccer posted a 1-1 record in a pair of home games this week.  In a 1-0 OT loss to Oneonta, freshman goalie Eli Kisselbach (Stamford, Conn.) had five saves. In Saturday's 6-0 win over Cobleskill, freshman Tim Sullivan (Walpole, Mass.) had three goals, while sophomore Brock Bakewell (Tucson, Ariz.) added two goals and an assist. The Thoroughbreds are now 9-4-1 and return to action Wednesday, Oct. 17, in a Liberty League showdown at local rival RPI. ~ By Cody Berschwinger