Ithaca Rolls Past Alfred 9-0
Box Score (PDF)
ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College women's tennis team continued to steam through its Empire 8 Conference slate on Sunday, securing its third straight 9-0 sweep in a victory over Alfred University at the Wheeler Tennis Courts. The win ups Ithaca's record to 4-0 in dual matches this season.
"I think we did real well today," head coach
Bill Austin said. "We got off to a quick start in doubles and carried that into our play in singles. We still have things to work on, but I'm really happy with how the team performed."
The Bombers jumped out to an early 3-0 lead through the opening doubles portion of play. The Bombers conceded just five games across the three tandem flights to gain the substantial edge in the match.
On court three, the Ithaca tandem of sophomore,
Kathryn Shaffer, and senior,
Maddie Overholt, defeated Alfred's Miranda Sakala and Rachel Pera 8-2. After splitting the first two games, the IC tandem pulled away from the Saxons duo. Using a controlled style of play, the Bombers took seven of the next eight games to lift IC to the early 1-0 lead.
The second flight was the next group to finish. Freshman,
Brianna Ruback, and sophomore,
Taylor Ginestro, dominated from the outset. The tandem took the first seven games against Alfred's combo of Inda Gillett and Sarah Grace, ultimately finishing off the second flight with an 8-1 win.
The closest doubles battle came on court one, as senior,
Haley Kusak, and sophomore,
Caroline Dunn, locked in a heated contest against the Saxons top tandem of Tori Pellegrino and Emma Siemer. Clearly fired up following a one match absence, Dunn came out ultra-aggressive, which led to a couple of errors during the early portion of the pro-set. Alfred took two of the first three games to snatch an early lead.
However, after a quick debrief with coach Austin, Ithaca's top tandem settled in to win the next seven games to complete the 8-2 victory in the first flight. The turning point in the set came during the fifth game, as the Bombers battled back from a 30-love and advantage-40 deficits to eventually win the game.
"I just told them to focus on playing high-percentage tennis," Austin said. "We needed to go in with the mindset of making them play to win points. Just had to settle them down and rein them in a little bit and get them back to playing the way they know how."
Ithaca continued the momentum into the singles portion of the match, conceding just six games total across the six flights of play.
Shaffer scored Ithaca's first point in singles with a dominant 6-0, 6-0 sweep of Alfred's Gillett in the fifth flight. She used a lethal service game, scoring numerous aces throughout the quick match. Dunn finished off Alfred's Sarah Grace shortly thereafter with a 6-0, 6-1 victory in the third flight to clinch the match for the Bombers.
Kusak continued to make quick work of her conference foes in the first flight. Doing an excellent job of utilizing a variety of shots to push her opponent all over the court, she finished off Pellegrino 6-0, 6-0 to mark Ithaca's second straight-sets sweep of the day.
Ruback added an excellent performance in the second flight, also besting Alfred's Siemer in a 6-0, 6-0 sweep. Senior,
Jodi Grosberg, who was not a part of the early doubles action, did well in her singles play. She tallied a 6-1, 6-1 win over the Saxon's Beryl Torthe in the fourth flight. Overholt finished off the match with a comfortable 6-0, 6-3 victory over Alfred's Nurila Kambar. Ginestro added an 8-1 victory over Alfred's Nicole Morales-Torres in an exhibition pro set.
"It was a great team effort across the board," Austin continued. "We are going to continue to work on our game. Play more creative and we hope to continue to grow with every match."
Ithaca returns to action on Tuesday, September 20, when it welcomes Houghton for a 4:00 p.m. match at the Wheeler Tennis Courts.