Ithaca Wins 12th Consecutive Empire 8 Title
HOUGHTON, N.Y. – The Ithaca College women's tennis team capped its dominant run as a member of the Empire 8 Conference with an exclamation point on Saturday afternoon, downing Stevens Institute of Technology 5-2 to win the program's unprecedented 12
th consecutive conference title. The IC women conclude the fall portion of their schedule with an unblemished 10-0 record in dual matches.
The fall season came full circle for the Bombers on Saturday, as an extremely motivated Stevens squad yet again stood between Ithaca and the conference title. Ithaca opened the year against its biggest rival with a 7-2 victory over Stevens at the Wheeler Tennis Courts. It was only fitting that the all too familiar Ducks would be the Bombers final opponent of the fall. The two programs had faced each other in seven out of the last eight seasons entering the 2016 installment of tournament, each time with IC coming out on top. Although the Ducks gave Ithaca its toughest battle of the year, the Bombers proved too much, scoring two points in doubles and clinching the match with three out of four singles bouts.
Setting the tone for what was a tight contest throughout, Stevens actually took the opening point in the match. Similar to the opener, the Ducks' second-flight tandem of Katrina Guido and Sydney Zoretic got the better of Ithaca's middle grouping of freshman,
Brianna Ruback, and sophomore,
Taylor Ginestro. The two duos battled back-and-forth throughout, but Stevens' grouping was able to snag the crucial break to take an 8-6 decision.
Ithaca quickly evened the score in the top-flight doubles matchup when senior,
Haley Kusak, and sophomore,
Caroline Dunn, posted an 8-4 victory over Alexis Conner and Isabella Calandra. The win set the table for a pivotal third-flight match that was fraught with intrigue.
Arguably the Bombers most consistent grouping during tandem play this season has been its third-flight duo of sophomore,
Kathryn Shaffer, and senior,
Maddie Overholt. However, it looked as though the Bombers were going to be trailing coming out of doubles play for the first time this season, as Stevens' Julia Earl and Jill Hadwen held a 7-5 lead and a chance to close out. In what was the unquestioned turning point in the match, Shaffer and Overholt battled back to force a tiebreaker, which they went on to win. The 9-8 win in the third flight ensured that IC would have a crucial edge heading into singles action.
IC extended the lead quickly in the singles session. Ruback capped her fantastic debut fall with one of her best efforts of the season. She scored a 6-0, 6-0 sweep of Stevens' Katrina Guido in the second flight to boost Ithaca to a 3-1 lead.
The Ducks answered shortly thereafter, as Isabella Calandra took down IC's
Jodi Grosberg 6-0, 6-3 in the fourth flight. Once again the gap was closed to a single point at 3-2.
Ithaca sealed the match over the next few moments, scoring a pair of convincing wins in the first and fifth flights. Kusak downed Alexis Conner 6-1, 6-3 in the top-flight to complete her perfect run through Empire 8 play in singles. Shaffer clinched the match when she downed Stevens' Nicole Badalaya 6-4, 6-2.
With the five points secured the match was stopped before the finishes of the third and sixth flights. Dunn held a 6-3, 5-2 advantage over the Ducks' Zoretic in the third-flight matchup, while Overholt trailed by a set but was level at 5-5 against Jillian Morneau in set number two.
The championship marked the 14
th since head coach
Bill Austin took control of the program in 2000. Set to join the Liberty League next season, the title further cements the legacy of one of the most dominant runs by a program in Empire 8 history.
The Ithaca women will return to action when they participate in their non-traditional season this coming spring.