ITHACA, N.Y. – The #60 Union College men's tennis team saw its record-setting season come to a close on Saturday morning, falling to #27 Vassar College by a 4-1 score in the semifinal round of the Liberty League Tournament at Cornell University's Reis Tennis Center.
Union (11-10) battled hard against the top-seeded Brewers, earning one singles win from sophomore
Jesus Sosa and sending three more matches to three sets, but the Garnet Chargers ultimately came up a few games short of an upset.
Vassar (16-5) did not need much time to earn the doubles point, losing one combined game at the top-two flights in 6-1 and 6-0 wins. But Sosa evened the match quickly with a 6-3, 6-1 victory at second singles over Fernando Bauermeister, winning three of the last four games to close out the first set and then breaking three times in the second stanza to finish off the win.
The Brewers regained momentum with wins at sixth and third singles to take a 3-1 lead, but the Garnet Chargers continued to fight as junior
Solen Bellemare and first-year
Simon Philip responded from 1-6 first sets to take their respective second sets and keep the matches going. Junior
Daniel Saxe did likewise after dropping his first set in a tiebreaker, as Union continued to make Vassar work.
The comeback effort eventually came up short, however, as Bellemare fell at the top flight by a 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 margin to Eugene Lee. At the time of the match's end, Saxe was about to solidify an early break in the third set in his fifth-singles match against Jonas Santos, 6-7 (3-7), 6-1, 1-0, while Philip was down a break to Junchen Jia at fourth singles, 6-1, 4-6, 4-2.
The loss ends a terrific season for Union, which saw the Garnet Chargers post the most wins in a season in the program's 114-year history and earn their first conference tournament victory since 2005. With every member of the starting lineup slated to return next season, Union will set its sights on more success in 2026-27.
