Box Score (PDF)
 
ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College women's tennis team got back in action for the first time since returning from spring break when the Bombers welcomed SUNYAC Champion and undefeated SUNY New Paltz to the Athletic & Events Center's Glazer Arena on Friday afternoon. IC turned in its most encouraging performance of the spring to-date, battling neck-and-neck with the undefeated Hawks in a 5-4 defeat.
 
The Bombers had several new faces see action on Friday, as three players made their collegiate debuts. The team certainly seemed to have a reinvigorated energy about it with the infusion of some young talent. While the squad was unable to get over the hump for its first victory of the spring, Ithaca certainly put together a performance to be proud of and hopefully to be built upon in the coming weeks.
 
SUNY New Paltz – Ithaca
Doubles
1. Trinity Chow/Laura Koob (NP) def. Caroline Dunn/Kathryn Shaffer (ITHACA) | 8-7 (9-7)
2. Alexandra Dyszewski/Brianna Ruback (ITHACA) def. Victoria Zezula/Lindsay Haley (NP) | 8-4
3. Jane Alkhazov/Sara Steinberg (ITHACA) def. Courtney Koran/Emma Messenger (NP) | 8-2
 
Singles
1. Brianna Ruback (ITHACA) v. Trinity Chow (NP)
2. Sara Steinberg (ITHACA) v. Laura Koob (NP)
3. Alexandra Dyszewski (ITHACA) v. Victoria Zezula (NP)
4. Rel Klein (ITHACA) v. Jenna Grandville (NP)
5. Chloe Levy (ITHACA) v. Courtney Koran (NP)
6. Shannon Wolfe (ITHACA) v. Lindsay Haley (NP)
 
The Bombers began the day's action with its most successful doubles session of the spring. Ithaca took a lead out of the first set of matches for the second time in four matches with wins at both second-doubles and third-doubles.
 
It was IC's successful new look third-pairing that got IC on the board early. Senior Jane Alkhazov and sophomore Sara Steinberg have worked well with each other since being introduced as a pairing during the team's spring break trip to Orlando, Florida. The momentum continued on Friday, as the duo scored a couple early breaks in coasting to an 8-2 win over New Paltz's Courtney Koran and Emma Messenger.
 
IC's infusion of fresh faces also helped the team take the second-doubles matchup convincingly as well. Junior Brianna Ruback paired with Swedish International Alexandra Dyszewski, who was one of three Bombers to make their collegiate debuts on the day. Ruback and Dyszewski were a natural fit from the start, playing well of each other's tendencies. The duo raced out to a 7-2 advantage over Victoria Zezula and Lindsay Haley. Although the Hawks' tandem would score a break to close the margin to 7-4, Ruback held on serve to see out the 8-4 win.
 
The most entertaining matchup of the singles session came in the first position, as seniors Caroline Dunn and Kathryn Shaffer locked into a ferocious back-and-forth battle against New Paltz's Trinity Chow and Laura Koob. The two duos traded periods of success, both earning breaks midway through the eight-game pro-set. With Dunn and Shaffer trailing 7-6, the IC seniors buckled down with four straight points to break Chow's serve and force a tiebreaker. True to the run of play in the competitive matchup, the tiebreaker would go to extra points as well. Although Dunn and Shaffer raced out to a 5-3 advantage, Chow and Koob pushed back to snatch a 7-6 lead. While Ithaca's pairing was able to earn a break point to extend the match, the Hawks scored two straight to earn the 9-7 tiebreaker win. The result closed the Ithaca lead to 2-1 coming out of doubles.
 
New Paltz leveled the match at 2-2 relatively early in the singles session. With a Liberty League tilt looming less than 24-hours from now against Vassar, IC opted to give some newcomers a chance in the singles lineup and manage the reps of its veteran players. With four first-year players in the lineup, Steinberg bumped up to the second slot and met a challenging matchup against New Paltz's Laura Koob. The Hawks netter would take the matchup 6-0, 6-2 to tie things up in the team race.
 
Dyszewski continued her impressive debut with an excellent performance in the third-singles position against Victoria Zezula. The newcomer pulled away 6-3 in the first set, before snagging several breaks in a runaway 6-1 triumph in the second set. With the rookie completing her second victory of the afternoon, Ithaca moved back ahead by a 3-2 score.
 
Unfortunately, the bottom half of the lineup was unable to pull out a result despite some promising efforts by rookies Rel Klein, Chloe Levy, and Shannon Wolfe. Klein took awhile to get going in an opening set defeat, but really began to find her groove during the second set. She scored a 4-3 lead late in the frame, but ran out of steam late. Jenna Grandville was able to storm back to take the second set 6-4. Wolfe dropped a 6-0, 6-0 contest against New Paltz's Lindsay Haley. The Hawks clinched the match in a competitive fifth-singles matchup between Ithaca's Chloe Levy and New Paltz's Courtney Koran. The two netters would battle to a tiebreaker in the opening set, which Koran would eek out with a 7-3 win. Koran rode that momentum to a big early lead in the second set. Levy would battle to the end, snagging a pair of games in the process, but the comeback proved to be too far out of reach. Koran took the second set 6-2 to score New Paltz's fifth team point.
 
The first-singles matchup between Ruback and Chow was the highlight of the singles session. The two opponents were as evenly matched as could be and that fact showed itself in a rollercoaster three-set marathon. The opening set went to a tiebreaker, which Chow was able to take by a 7-3 margin. However, Ruback began to grind down Chow during the middle set. Showcasing her great conditioning and ability to win long rallies, Ruback pulled away for a 6-3 win in the second set to force a third-set super-breaker. The final points of the match were riveting, as both players answered each other with excellent displays. In the end, it would be Ruback that prevailed, as she staved off several match-point chances from Chow throughout the latter parts of the breaker to win in a 14-12 thriller.
 
Ithaca will be back in action tomorrow afternoon when it plays Vassar at 4:30 p.m. inside the Athletic & Events Center Glazer Arena.