The Engineers had a week and a half off due to the recent athletic cancellations, but they certainly weren’t rusty as they crushed the Gators of Russell Sage, 9-0, in a dual meet on Friday.
The toughest match for RPI was at the third singles slot, where Kristen Powers needed three sets to take down the Gators’ Aileen Swisher. All of the other matches were won by the Engineers in straight sets, and senior Thais Triehy won her match at sixth singles without her opponent winning even a single game.
For senior Alex Koch, playing at first singles, victory was particularly sweet—she beat Sage’s top player, Elizabeth Lawrence, for the first time in her career at RPI.
Aside from the Powers/Swisher matchup, the Engineers allowed the Gators to win only 19 games in the other eight matches at the meet.
Prior to Friday, Rensselaer’s most recent meet was on September 10 at New Paltz. The Engineers also won this meet handily, losing only at sixth singles for an 8-1 victory.
The only loss RPI has suffered so far this season was at the RPI Invitational, where the Engineers placed second behind Nazareth in a field of five schools. On an individual note, Powers is 6-1 at third singles, and Co-Captain Michelle Casey at second singles is also 6-1. Powers and her doubles partner, Victoria Gardner, have yet to lose a match in the second doubles slot.
The Engineers will travel to Williamstown, Mass., this weekend for the Rolex Invitational at Williams College.
