Colorado College dropped a 9-0 decision against No. 21 Vassar College on Saturday morning, but the Tigers played better during the four-hour match than the scores indicate.

In her first match at No. 1 singles, Deanna Thirkell dropped a 6-1, 6-2 decision to Nicole Pontee. Thirkell and Emma Sharer played CC's most competitive doubles match, but came out on the wrong side of an 8-6 score at No. 3 doubles.

Jordan Evans played a tough match at No. 2 singles before falling 6-2, 6-3. Natalie Donnelly and Erin Yamamoto also played well at No. 4 and No. 5 singles after a disappointing performance at No. 2 doubles.

“In singles, Jordan Evans probably had the best match as she had 20-30 ball rallies very often,” head coach Perry Wright said. “Natalie also has made progress in her singles game, which is encouraging.”

The Tigers dropped all three doubles matches for third time this season and lost all six singles matches for the first time against a Division III opponent.

“While the final match scores were quite one-sided in our favor, it was a four-hour event and Colorado College really made us work for and structure our points,” Vassar head coach Kathy Campbell. “They were tenacious and got lots of balls back.”

The experience of playing nationally-ranked opponents should pay dividends for CC as the season progresses.

“We seem to lack the belief that we can beat teams like that,” Wright said. “They were good, and they deserve credit for how hard they played, but we certainly did not play up to our potential. Hopefully we can grow from the experience and come back better and stronger.”

Saturday night's match against La Sierra was canceled because the Golden Eagles did not have enough players available.

Colorado College returns to action on Monday with matches against Sewanee and Hardin-Simmons University.