Vassar Today

Sports

By Micah Buis '02

Beatrice (Bea) Milligan

Bea Milligan
Bea Milligan
At the Athletic Banquet in May, women’s basketball coach Steve Buonfiglio presented Beatrice (Bea) Milligan ’02 (pictured right with Buonfiglio) with the 2002 Coaches’ Award. The award honors an athlete “who has shown commitment to sport and team, demonstrated work ethic, shown leadership, and is respected and admired by teammates,” Buonfiglio explained. He added, “Without exception, Bea fits this mold.” A four-year player for the Brewers, with a career high 19 points in two separate games, a leader in steals and three-point field goals, and a three-time member of the UCAA All-Academic Team, Milligan was “always fighting to the end and, more times than not, coming up with something spectacular. Bea has been a tremendous player for Vassar.” However, Buonfiglio was careful to note that “Bea’s commitment to [the] squad went beyond the court…. As great a player as she is, she is 10 times the person.”

Lisa Ercolano

Buonfiglio also honored Lisa Ercolano ’02 (pictured below with her mother and coach) as the 2002 Female Senior Athlete of the Year. Buonfiglio said, “From day one, Lisa was special. She led our team in scoring as a freshman and never looked back.

 

Lisa Ercolano
Lisa Ercolano

She just loves basketball, and it didn’t take me too long to figure out that it was easier to give her a copy of the gym key than to let her in every time she wanted to work on her shot.” And Ercolano’s practice certainly paid off: she is Vassar’s all-time leader for three-point field goals (#23 in the nation her sophomore year for three-point field goals), Vassar’s all-time assist leader, third on the all-time scoring list, second for free-throw percentage and average, and third in steals. Like Milligan, Ercolano epitomized the idea of the Vassar scholar-athlete, also being named to the UCAA All-Academic Team for three consecutive years.

David Paine
David Paine
David Paine

David Paine ’02 (pictured right with Coach Jonathan Penn) received the 2002 Male Senior Athlete of the Year Award, after a season of leading the Vassar men’s volleyball team in kill percentage, total kills, block solos, block assists, and total blocks. The co-captain’s impressive record extends beyond his senior-year highlights: he was twice named to the All-Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association, thrice named to the Academic All-EIVA, and twice named MVP at the Vassar Invite, among several other honors. Paine was also named to the prestigious 2001–02 Verizon Academic All-America Men’s At-Large College Division Team, becoming the first Vassar student to receive this national honor.


Season Stats

Baseball (16–19)

The boys of summer set a school record for wins in a season as they notched up 16 victories. Heading into conference play, Vassar was 10–8, but by the end of the year they finished fifth in the UCAA. Brian Prystowsky ‘02 was named UCAA Performer of the Week.

Men’s Lacrosse (3–10)

Competing in the UCAA continues to be tough but the Brewers earned three good wins over Castleton State, CCNY, and Kean.

Women’s Lacrosse (2–10)

Wins over Allegheny College and New Paltz were the highlights of the season. Facing its most difficult schedule ever made wins hard to come by. Sarah Lackay ’04 earned UCAA Goaltender of the Week honors.

Men’s Rowing

The Vassar Lightweight 4+ placed first at the Head of the Fish. The Novice 8+ earned two first place finishes at the Skidmore Invitational and NYS Championship. The Varsity 4+ and Novice 8+ placed second at the Knecht Cup and Atlantic Collegiate Sprints.

Women’s Rowing

The Varsity 8+ placed first at the Knecht Cup and Skidmore Invitational and third at Seven Sisters. The Novice 8+ won the Petite Championship at States while Vassar also boated a second Varsity 8+ this year.

Men’s Rugby (7–5)

Vassar's men went 7–5 in the spring, scoring 32 tries and tallying 219 points. The Brewers won the Beast of the East Tournament in Portsmouth, RI. Down 20–31 with 10 minutes left, Vassar scored 15 unanswered points to defeat Central Connecticut 35-31.

Women’s Rugby (8–7)

Victories over Wesleyan 53–0, Ithaca 22–0, UConn 10–0, and Radcliffe 26–0, saw Vassar win their second consecutive Beast of the East Tournament Division I Championship. The year ended with a 15–2 record against undergraduate opponents and a number 3 out of 92 ranking in the northeast.

Men’s Tennis (5–12)

Vassar finished fifth in the UCAA and seventh in the ECAC North Championship. Freshmen and sophomores fill the top eight spots so the future looks promising.

Women’s Tennis (13–8)

Vassar finished the season ranked no. 11 in the Northeast Region out of 110 teams and a national ranking of 28 out of 360 schools. Four players were named to the UCAA All-Academic team. Head coach Kathy Campbell earned UCAA Coach of the Year and ITA Northeast Coach of the Year.

Photos by Carlisle Stockton