Women's Tennis | 10/14/2022 6:49:37 PM
ITHACA, NY – Top-seeded Hartwick College and No. 2 seed Nazareth College will meet for the 2022 Empire 8 Women’s Tennis Championship after earning semifinal victories on Friday from Ithaca College. The Hawks rolled to a 5-0 win over No. 4 seed Alfred University, while Nazareth defeated No. 3 seed Houghton University, 5-1. The 2022 E8 Championship will take place from Ithaca at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
The winner of Saturday’s Empire 8 Championship match will earn the automatic bid into the 2023 NCAA Division III Women’s Tennis Championship, which begins May 5. Hartwick enters the championship match with an unblemished 12-0 record and is looking for its first Empire 8 title. Nazareth is attempting to win its third straight Empire 8 Championship and seventh in program history. The Golden Flyers enter the title match with an 8-1 record.
Hartwick handed Nazareth its only defeat of the regular season, 6-3 on Oct. 2. Hartwick won two of three doubles matches and took four of the singles flights to earn the win. This is also a rematch of the 2021 Empire 8 Championship, won by Nazareth, 5-3.
No. 1 Hartwick 5, No. 4 Alfred 0
Hartwick moved to 12-0 in 2022 and advanced to its second straight Empire 8 Championship match with a 5-0 win over Alfred in sun-soaked conditions Friday.
The Hawks took a 3-0 lead by sweeping the doubles portion of the match. The second doubles team of
Phoebe Olson (Jamestown, N.Dak.) and
Lily Vanuga (Springville, N.Y.) defeated their counterparts from Alfred 8-2. Next to finish, was the third doubles squad of
Maggie Van Valkenburgh (Highland, N.Y.) and
Maddi Morrison (Burnt Hills, N.Y.) as they beat their opponent 8-4.
The first doubles tandem of
Damita Bollers (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and
Jade Killikelly (Jamaica, N.Y.) also won by a score of 8-4.
Entering the singles round, Hartwick only needed to win two matches to take the required five matches to win the overall contest.Vanuga took care of her opponent first at sixth singles in straight sets: 6-0, 6-0. Killikelly picked up the clinching victory at third singles with a 6-1, 6-2 win.
Alfred falls to 9-4 in 2022.
No. 2 Nazareth 5, No. 3 Houghton 1
Sophomore
Lily Bulkeley and freshman
Catherine Zak used a win and No. 2 doubles and a pair of victories in straight sets win at No. 3 and No. 5 singles to lead the Nazareth Women's Tennis team to a 5-1 win over Houghton in the semifinal round of the Empire 8 Tournament Friday at Ithaca College.
Nazareth (8-1) advances to face Hartwick at 1 p.m. Saturday as the Hawks defeated Alfred 5-0 in the opposite semifinal match.
The Golden Flyers won the top two doubles matches as junior Aliya Guzman and sophomore Claire Pullen won an 8-3 game at No. 1 while Bulkeley paired with Zak to win an 8-2 game at No. 2.
Houghton (7-6) won at No. 3 doubles but Nazareth won the first three singles games to clinch the overall victory.
Zak was the first to finish her singles match with a 6-0, 6-1 victory and junior Katelyn Spath posted a 6-1, 6-0 win at No. 6 singles to put Nazareth a win away from clinching the match.
Bulkeley clinched the match with a 6-2, 6-0 win at No. 5 to send the Golden Flyers to its sixth straight appearance in the Empire 8 Tournament championship match.
2022 Empire 8 Women's Tennis Championship Tournament Schedule
Friday, October 14 - Semifinals (at Ithaca College)
No. 1 Hartwick College defeated No. 4 Alfred University, 5-0 –
BOX SCORE
No. 2 Nazareth College defeated No. 3 Houghton University, 5-1 –
BOX SCORE
Saturday, October 15 - Championship (at Ithaca College)
No. 1 Hartwick vs. No. 2 Nazareth – 1 p.m
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ABOUT THE EMPIRE 8 CONFERENCE
The members of the Empire 8 Conference are committed first and foremost to the pursuit of academic excellence and the league is regarded as an outstanding NCAA Division III conference. The membership has distinguished itself among its peer group for its quality institutions, spirited and sportsmanlike competition, outstanding services and highly ethical policies and practices. Its commitment to serve the educational needs of its student-athletes is the hallmark of the E8. For more on the Empire 8 visit
www.empire8.com.
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