Box Score (PDF)
 
ORLANDO, Fla. – The Ithaca College women's tennis team continued its Spring Break on Tuesday afternoon when it returned to the courts for the second match of the week in Orlando, Florida, at the Fort Gatlin Tennis Center. Unfortunately, the Bombers were not able to snap its losing skid to begin the spring season, dropping a fourth consecutive dual match in a 7-2 defeat against Franklin & Marshall.
 
Franklin & Marshall 7 – Ithaca 2
Doubles
1. Brianna Ruback/Caroline Dunn (ITHACA) def. Allison Wolters/Gavriel Rubenstein (F&M) | 8-7 (7-3)
2. Sara Steinberg/Jane Alkhazov (ITHACA) def. Caroline Ulrich/Marissa Witmer (F&M) | 8-7 (8-6)
3. Lauren Wang/Alex D'Angelo (F&M) receives forfeit
 
Singles
1. Allison Wolters (F&M) def. Brianna Ruback (ITHACA) | 6-2, 6-0
2. Gavriel Rubenstein (F&M) def. Caroline Dunn (ITHACA) | 6-7 (8-10), 6-4, 10-2
3. Emma Wu (F&M) def. Sara Steinberg (ITHACA) | 6-4, 6-3
4. Lauren Wang (F&M) def. Jane Alkhazov (ITHACA) | 6-4, 6-3
5. Alex D'Angelo (F&M) def. Rel Klein (ITHACA) | 6-0, 6-1
6. Marissa Witmer (F&M) receives forfeit
 
The doubles session was the highlight for the Bombers, as Ithaca posted victories in both first-doubles and second-doubles to take a lead into singles play. The performance continued a trend of stronger starts for IC in recent matches.
 
Both the contests took extra points to decide a winner. Junior Brianna Ruback and senior Caroline Dunn continued to work well as a top pairing. The contest would be back-and-forth throughout against the Diplomats number-one tandem of Allison Wolters and Gavriel Rubenstein. The battle would enter a tiebreaker in which Ruback and Dunn would prevail by a 7-3 margin.
 
Incredibly the second-doubles matchup was even tighter. Sophomore Sara Steinberg and senior Jane Alkhazov turned in an excellent performance to score their first win as a duo. The matchup again would take extra points against F&M's Caroline Ulrich and Marissa Witmer. The tiebreaker would extend all the way to a 6-6 tie, before Steinberg and Alkhazov rattled off two straight points to lock in the win.
 
Unfortunately, the doubles contests may have left the Bombers a bit fatigued for the singles session. The Diplomats seized back momentum, sweeping all six points in singles to pull away for the 7-2 victory.
 
The closest battle of the singles session came at second-singles, as Dunn faced Franklin & Marshall's Rubenstein in a battle that went three sets. Dunn actually took the opening set in a tiebreaker, but would run out of steam in dropping the second set 6-4 and a super-breaker by a 10-2 margin. Steinberg and Alkhazov both came up on the short end of 6-3, 6-4 decisions.
 
Ithaca will be back in action on Thursday, March 14, when it wraps up the three-match swing in Florida with a match against Bloomsburg at the USTA National Campus.