Skidmore Sports Roundup

GOLF TEAM FINISHES THIRD, PLAYERS WIN LIBERTY LEAGUE AWARDS

The Skidmore College golf team shot a third-round 286 on Sunday to finish third out of 17 teams at the Skidmore Fall Invitational at the Saratoga Spa State Park Course. The Thoroughbreds finished behind only Amherst and Trinity and were 10 strokes ahead of fourth-place NYU. 

Jaden Cheng and Rudraksha Banerjee both shot 2-under 70s on Sunday. Cheng’s brought him under par for the tournament (74-71-70—215) to finish tied for third. The first-year birdied 10, 11, 14 and recorded par on 14 out of the other 15 holes for the 70. Banerjee (76-76-70—222) tied for 26th. His third round featured five birdies. As a team, Skidmore was second with 42 birdies for the tournament and fourth with 166 pars.

“We played solid this weekend and made a nice run today to finish third, which gives us great momentum into the offseason,” said Head Coach Tom Oppedisano. “Congrats to first-year Jaden Cheng on his third-place individual finish. And a huge thank you to Saratoga State Park Golf Course for being a great partner.”

Cheng was selected as the Liberty League Men’s Golf Rookie of the Week for the week ending Oct. 12. Patrick McLaughlin also earned Performer of the Week honors.

Skidmore’s golf team will return to play in the spring with five tournaments before the Liberty League Championship in late April.

TENNIS TEAM COMPLETES FALL SEASON

The Skidmore College men’s tennis team completed its fall schedule over the weekend as it hosted the Skidmore Open against several of the nation’s top teams at the McCaffery-Wagman Tennis and Wellness Center. Mahen Bitkuri had a first-round victory (7-5, 6-4) in the C Flight Singles draw against Swarthmore’s Nicholas Choo. The first-year player dropped his quarterfinal match despite forcing a first-set tiebreak. 

Also in the C Flight, Nika Mori battled from a dropped opening set to force a third-set tiebreak against Nathan Jackson of Middlebury. Kyle Lundberg and Ege Topbas advanced to the semifinals of the Doubles C Flight thanks to a 6-4 win over their opponents from Denison.

The men’s tennis team will pick up its schedule in February for the beginning of its dual-match slate.

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL SQUAD WINS TWO

The Skidmore College volleyball team hit .410 as a unit while sticking St. Lawrence at 17 in all three sets in a sweep on the road over the Saints on Friday evening. Skidmore, now at 9-8 overall, improves 2-2 in the Liberty League at the halfway point of its conference schedule. First-year Chloe Heitman powered the Thoroughbreds. She finished with 12 kills on 23 swings (.391 percentage) with three aces, two blocks (one solo), and six digs. Maya Stolarz and Natalie Pedersen both had nine kills. Pedersen added a solo block, while Stolarz had three digs, a block, and an assist. With the victory, Skidmore has now defeated St. Lawrence in four consecutive seasons.

Prior to that win, the Thoroughbreds defeated Vermont State University Castleton in four sets (25-12, 20-25, 25-19, 25-13) on Oct. 7. Skidmore used kills from eight different players while hitting .219 as a team including a .407 mark in the decisive fourth set. Heitman led the way with 12 kills with four digs. Stolarz had nine kills to go with three blocks and three digs.

Up next, the volleyball squad will travel to William Smith on Saturday, Oct. 18.