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LGR! Golf Tournament Sign UpTROY, N.Y. - The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) women's tennis team is one of four schools to have qualified for the Liberty League Championships that will take place this weekend at the Reis Tennis Center on the campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. The Engineers, who are coached by
Caitlin Crowley, are the fourth seed and face top-seeded Skidmore College on Saturday at 9am. Second-seeded Vassar College faces third-seeded St. Lawrence University at noon.
All four schools are listed in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) regional rankings with Skidmore at No. 6, Vassar at No. 8, St. Lawrence at No. 15 and RPI at No. 20. Skidmore and Vassar are ranked 16th and 21st in the nation, respectively.
Rensselaer is 9-8 overall and 4-3 in the league. The Engineers have had a consistent lineup throughout the spring, led by senior
Casey Olsen (Glen Ridge, NJ / Glen Ridge), who plays No. 1 singles and No. 2 doubles. She is 6-11 in singles and 10-9 in doubles with classmate
Amanda Alexander (Houston, TX / The High School for the Performing and Visual Arts). They have won seven of their last 10 matches. Alexander also plays No. 4 singles with a record of 4-8 in that slot. She is 2-1 at No. 3.
Junior
Emily Laurilliard (Niskayuna, NY / Niskayuna) plays No. 2 singles and No. 1 doubles. She is 10-15 on her own and 13-11 with playing partner
Melanie Frank (Durham, CT / Coginchaug Regional). A freshman, Frank is 9-14 in singles, including 4-9 at No. 3 and 2-0 at No. 4.
Sophomore
Pooja Ganesh (Fremont, CA / Westborough) is the Engineers' No. 4 singles player, posting a 10-10 mark. In doubles, she teams with junior
Emily Aaldenberg (West Chester, PA / West Chester B. Reed Henderson) at No. 3. Together they have a 7-7 record. In singles, Aaldenberg is 13-9, including 8-5
. She is 8-2 in her last 10 individual matches.
Rensselaer has faced each of the other three teams in this weekend's event, which is single elimination with no back-draw. RPI was defeated by Skidmore (11-8; 7-0), 8-1 on April 19; lost at Vassar (13-5; 6-1), 9-0 on April 3; and fell at St. Lawrence (15-6; 5-2), 9-0 on March 7. All three opponents were nationally-ranked at the time, listed at No. 16, No. 24 and No. 37, respectively.
