Rochester, NY - The 2012 Empire 8 Women’s Tennis Tournament field has been set, with four teams battling for a chance to win the postseason conference championship.
The tournament begins on Saturday, Oct. 20 with two semifinal matches scheduled for 1 p.m. Top seeded Ithaca plays fourth-seeded Hartwick and second-seeded Nazareth will face third seed Stevens Institute of Technology. The winners will advance to the final match at 11am on Sunday, Oct. 21.
The matches will be played until a decision is secured, i.e., the first team to earn five victories ends the match.
All matches are scheduled for the outdoor courts on the campus of Nazareth College, with the indoor Mendon Racquet Club serving as an option in inclement weather.
Tournament Quick Facts
-The Empire 8 Athletic Conference will employ a four-team single elimination tournament format for the sixth straight year. From the 1999-2006 season the Empire 8 champion was determined by a single elimination tournament featuring all teams in the conference.
- Three of the four teams that qualified for the 2011 tournament return again this year. The absentee is St. John Fisher being replaced by Hartwick.
- 2012 is the first year Hartwick has qualified for the four-team tournament format.
- Ithaca, Nazareth and Stevens have qualified for the four-team tournament each year (2007-2012).
- Ithaca has advanced to the championship match every year, winning 10 team titles.
- The Bombers will be looking for its eighth straight team title in 2012.
- The championship match the last three years has featured Ithaca v Stevens, with the Bombers winning each year.
- Nazareth last advanced to the finals in 2006.
- Stevens and Hartwick have never won an E8 championship
- Nazareth has won two teams titles (2001 and 2002).
- The last time Ithaca lost an E8 post-season tournament match was in 2004 in the final to Alfred. Since then they are currently riding a 16-match win streak in the tournament.
- Empire 8 post-season tournament records: Ithaca (31-3), Hartwick (9-15), Nazareth (16-10), Stevens (4-5). *Stevens didn’t join the E8 until 2007.