Ithaca Rolls Past Utica 9-0
Box Score (PDF)
UTICA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College women's tennis team continued its strong start to the season on Wednesday afternoon, blowing past Utica College in a 9-0 sweep at the Pioneers' tennis complex. The victory boosts Ithaca's record to 2-0 in Empire 8 play, while it stretches the program's regular-season conference winning streak to 12 straight matches dating back to 2014-15.
"Everyone played very solid matches today," head coach
Bill Austin said. "I liked seeing the focus and drive that our players played with throughout the day."
The Bombers got off to a quick start in the doubles action to begin the day, as IC quickly stormed out to a 3-0 lead.
With Austin electing to hold out usual top-flight player,
Haley Kusak, in advance of this weekend's upcoming Mary Hosking Invitational at William Smith College, sophomore
Kathryn Shaffer bumped up to the top-flight pairing with fellow classmate
Caroline Dunn. The duo was impressive in steam-rolling to an 8-0 win over Utica's Sara Gribanoff and Shannon Fillmore.
Freshman
Brianna Ruback and sophomore
Taylor Ginestro also made quick work in the second flight. The duo dispatched the Pioneers' Julianne Pieros and Monica Johnson 8-1. The victory was Ruback's first doubles victory of her fledgling collegiate career.
Another freshman cracked the lineup in third doubles, as
Jane Alkhazov teamed with senior
Jodi Grosberg for an 8-2 victory over LuLu Zhang and Gabriella Morreale.
Ithaca continued its strong play in the singles portion of the match. The Bombers dropped only two total games in cruising to the 9-0 sweep.
Dunn got Ithaca up and running in singles action, besting Gribanoff 6-0, 6-1 in second-flight singles.
Ruback dominated in the first first-flight match of her career, besting Pieros 6-0, 6-0. The victory upped IC's lead to 5-0 at the time, clinching the match in favor of the Bombers.
Grosberg and Shaffer both cruised to 6-0, 6-0 sweeps in third- and fourth-flight singles, respectively. Ginestro bested Zhang 6-0, 6-1 in the fifth flight, while Alkhazov scored the first official singles victory of her career in emphatic fashion. The freshman bested Utica's Christa Pham 6-0, 6-0 in the sixth flight to cap the win.
The Ithaca women return to action this coming weekend when the team heads to Geneva, N.Y., for the Mary Hosking Invitational at William Smith College. Full flight lists for singles and doubles will be posted tomorrow.
"This weekend's tournament at William Smith will give everyone great competitive opportunities," Austin continued. "We're really looking forward to playing in it again this year."