Box Score (PDF)
 
ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College women's tennis team put together one of its best performances of the season on Saturday afternoon when the team welcomed Bard for the team's Liberty League finale at 1:00 p.m. Ithaca snapped a five-match skid with a dominant 8-1 triumph over the Raptors to close out its first season in the Liberty League on a high note.
 
Playing outside at the Wheeler Tennis Complex for the first time all season, IC got off to a quick start and never let up in scoring its most lopsided win of the year. The Bombers took all three doubles bouts and five-of-six singles battles to pull away for the victory.
 
IC set the tone for the gorgeous afternoon with its doubles session. Ithaca swept all three doubles bouts for the first time this season to grab a stranglehold on the match heading into singles play. The second-doubles combo of sophomore Brianna Ruback and freshman Sara Steinberg put IC up 1-0 in short order with an 8-0 whitewashing of Lily Zacharias and Eva Grunblatt. Shortly after, IC's third grouping of juniors Taylor Ginestro and Hannah Kasoff completed their own 8-0 blanking of Bard's Isabelle Scarborough and Tori Bowen.
 
The sweep was not as elementary as it initially appeared, as Bard put up a furious rally to nearly steal the top doubles matchup. IC's first-doubles tandem of juniors Kathryn Shaffer and Caroline Dunn raced out to a big lead over Katie Esposito and Anastasia Kachalova, but Bard's duo did not quit. The visitors battled back to nearly tie the battle, before Shaffer and Dunn finally locked in the 8-6 victory and the 3-0 lead heading into singles play.
 
Ithaca clinched the match with some dominant results once singles play began. Steinberg extended IC's lead to 4-0 when she conceded just three games in a 6-1, 6-2 straight-sets win. Ginestro followed with the match clincher when she defeated Zacharias 6-0, 6-2 in bumping up to the third-singles bout. Sophomore Parley Hannan followed with her most dominant performance of her debut season, as she bested Elizabeth Nicholson 6-1, 6-1 at fifth-singles. The victory upped IC's lead to 6-0.
 
The Bombers final two victories on the day came at the bookend singles bouts. Senior Sam Brown slotted into the sixth-singles spot and played a strong match against Eva Grunblatt. The senior rolled out to a 6-2 triumph in the opening set, but last her momentum in a 3-6 setback in the second frame. The match went to a marathon third-set super-breaker that took 24-points to decide a winner. Brown came out on top 13-11 for her first win of the year. Ruback also had a challenge in her first-singles match against Katie Esposito. Like Brown, she raced out to a 6-2 win in the opening set, but dropped the second set 4-6. Ruback prevailed in a closely contested third-set super-breaker 10-8, notching her ninth singles win of the season.
 
Ithaca returns to action on Thursday, April 26, when it welcomes Hamilton College for a 4:30 p.m. start at the Wheeler Tennis Courts or Glazer Arena depending on weather.