Stevens Advances to E8 Championship match 10/13/2017 11:10:00 PM Charles O'Brien October 13, 2017 Box Score The Basics Score: Stevens Institute of Technology Women's Tennis 5 St. John Fisher College 2 Location: Mendon Racquet & Swim Club - Pittsford, N.Y. Short Story: The Stevens Institute of Technology women's tennis reached the Empire 8 Championship match with a 5-2 victory over St. John Fisher College Friday. The records: Stevens: 9-1; 7-1 (Empire 8); St. John Fisher: 9-3; 6-2 (Empire 8) Of note: With the victory, the Ducks reached the Empire 8 Championship match for the ninth time since joining the Empire 8 Conference. How It Happened The freshman tandem of Chelsea Braithwaite and Makenna Sargis opened the scoring with an 8-2 win at No. 3 doubles. Sophomore Nicole Badalyan and junior Sydney Zoretic gave the Ducks a 2-0 lead with an 8-4 win at second doubles. Sophomores Julia Earl and Isabella Calandra dropped their first match of the season, falling to Fisher's top pairing of Kalli Saffran and Cassidy Bell, 8-4. Junior Victoria Piskarev gave the team a big lift, earning a straight-set win at No. 2 singles to push the Stevens lead to 3-1. Saffran scored the only singles victory for St. John Fisher, defeating Earl at first singles. After dropping the opening set, Zoretic brought the Ducks closer to victory after rallying to defeat Amanda Pendergast, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 at fifth singles. Sargis closed out the victory with a 6-1, 6-2 win at sixth singles. With Sargis' win securing the victory, Calandra's match at third singles and Braithwaite's contest at fourth singles went unfinished. Singles Results Kaili Saffran (FISHERW) def. Julia Earl (STEVENS) 6-3, 7-5 Victoria Piskarev (STEVENS) def. Taylor Slink (FISHERW) 6-4, 6-3 Isabella Calandra (STEVENS) vs. Sarah Sorrentino (FISHERW) 6-4, unfinished Chelsea Braithwaite (STEVENS) vs. Cassidy Bell (FISHERW) 7-5, unfinished Sydney Zoretic (STEVENS) def. Amanda Pendergast (FISHERW) 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 Makenna Sargis (STEVENS) def. Caroline Seaberg (FISHERW) 6-1, 6-2 Doubles Results Kaili Saffran/Cassidy Bell (FISHERW) def. Julia Earl/Isabella Calandra (STEVENS) 8-4 Nicole Badalyan/Sydney Zoretic (STEVENS) def. Amanda Pendergast/A. Thongsirimonghoun (FISHERW) 8-4 Chelsea Braithwaite/Makenna Sargis (STEVENS) def. Caroline Seaberg/Sarah Sorrentino (FISHERW) 8-2 From the Court "We are proud of our team today! They fought hard and stayed tough against a very tough Fisher team and persevered in what was a battle. These Ducks have what it takes. They just need to go into tomorrow and embrace the battle. Steve and I are very proud of this team. We look forward to another battle tomorrow." - assistant coach Brian Maher Up Next The Ducks will take on Nazareth College Saturday in a rematch of both teams' season opener. The Golden Flyers downed Stevens 6-3 on Sept. 2.