Box Score LATHAM, N.Y. – The Ithaca College women's tennis team hit the road looking to snap its losing skid in Liberty League play on Sunday afternoon when it headed to the Capital Region for match against RPI at the Tri City Fitness Center in Latham, N.Y. Although the Bombers turned in one of their best performances of the season across the board, it would not be enough as the Engineers outlasted the Bombers in a 5-4 battle that went down to the wire.
Sunday's result was a heartbreaker for the Bombers. In search of its first Liberty League victory since a 6-3 triumph over Union during the first weekend of March, IC looked poised to score its first road win in League play this season. The Bombers turned around a 2-1 deficit coming out of singles by taking three of the first four singles matchups to move ahead of the Engineers 4-3 with just two matches remaining. Unfortunately, IC was unable to pick up the result it was hoping for, as RPI scored come-from-behind wins at third-singles to tie the match and second-singles to pick up the decisive point in a 5-4 decision. The loss dropped Ithaca to 3-9 on the year, while it dealt the Bombers their fifth consecutive Liberty League defeat.
The doubles session was quite competitive with both teams playing some sharp tennis in the early going. Ithaca got on the board first, scoring a win in the third-doubles bout. Making her return to the lineup, junior
Hannah Kasoff paired with classmate
Taylor Ginestro for an 8-4 triumph over Makenzi Herbst and Sasha Towe of RPI. The win continued a trend of stronger doubles play by the Bombers over recent weeks.
Unfortunately, IC was unable to take a lead out of the session. RPI leveled the match at 1-1 in second-doubles, as sophomore
Brianna Ruback and freshman
Sara Steinberg came up just shy in an 8-6 decision to Mailani Neal and Tess Lubin. The first-doubles battle was a thriller that went down to the wire. Sadly, RPI's duo of Nisha Rajamohan and Andrea Valencia were able to score a decisive break to best IC's junior tandem of
Kathryn Shaffer and
Caroline Dunn in a 9-7 final. The Engineers brought the crucial swing point that ultimately proved pivotal in their later comeback effort.
Despite coming up on the short end on doubles, Ithaca showed strong resolve in getting off to a quick start in the singles session. Ruback leveled the match at 2-2 in quick order with a commanding victory at first singles against RPI's Mailani Neal, winning 6-1, 6-3. Although the Engineers would strike back in sixth-singles with a Sasha Towe 6-1, 6-4 victory over sophomore
Parley Hannan, IC again evened the match in the fifth-singles battle as Steinberg won 6-3, 6-4 over Makenzi Herbst.
Ithaca took its first lead since the opening 1-0 advantage when Ginestro finished off a thrilling three-set comeback over Nisha Rajamohan in fourth-singles. The IC junior actually dropped the opening set 5-7, but rallied to force a third frame with a strong performance in a second-set tiebreaker 7-6 (7-4). The big momentum swing paid dividends for Ginestro in the third set, as she pulled away for a 6-2 win that put Ithaca just one win away from clinching the match.
Initially, prospects looked good that Ithaca would get that win. Both Shaffer and Dunn scored opening set wins, Shaffer striking first with a 6-3 win against Lubin and Dunn winning 7-5 over Valencia. Unfortunately, things slipped away late. Valencia won the final two sets 7-5, 6-4 to take the three-setter, while Shaffer lost momentum and was unable to rebound falling 6-1, 6-3.
Ithaca returns to action on Saturday, April 21, when it battles Bard College in a 1:00 p.m. match at either Glazer Arena or the Wheeler Tennis Courts.
