ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Ithaca College women's tennis team hit the road on Wednesday afternoon looking to build off its first victory of the season over the weekend at Bard. Standing in IC's way was an RIT squad that has gotten off to a solid start to the season with an 8-4 record and 2-2 mark in league play entering the day. The Bombers turned in a strong effort against the Tigers, but were unable to come up with enough results during the singles session falling by a 6-3 margin.
 
Doubles
1. Caroline Dunn/Kathryn Shaffer (ITHACA) def. Anne Taylor/Kristen Zablonski (RIT) | 8-7 (8-6)
2. Amelia Ying/Shayna Ginster (RIT) def. Brianna Ruback/Alexandra Dyszewksi (ITHACA) | 8-2
3. Claire Casalnova/Annie Steinbrink (RIT) def. Chloe Levy/Shannon Wolfe (ITHACA) | 8-3
 
Singles
1. Brianna Ruback (ITHACA) def. Amelia Ying (RIT) | 6-3, 6-1
2. Caroline Dunn (ITHACA) def. Anne Taylor (RIT) | 7-5, 4-6, 7-5
3. Shayna Ginster (RIT) def. Alexandra Dyszewski (ITHACA) | 4-6, 7-5, 6-2
4. Kristen Zablonski (RIT) def. Rel Klein (ITHACA) | 6-1, 6-0
5. Claire Casalnova (RIT) def. Chloe Levy (ITHACA) | 6-1, 6-1
6. Kristen Auble (RIT) def. Shannon Wolfe (ITHACA) | 6-0, 6-1
 
Playing on its home courts, RIT came out fast to start today's match. The Tigers earned a couple convincing victories to put IC in an early 2-0 hole. Junior Brianna Ruback and first-year Alexandra Dyszewski fell in an 8-2 decision to Amelia Ying and Shayna Ginster. RIT's Claire Casalnova and Annie Steinbrink doubled the hosts lead when they bested Ithaca's rookie tandem of Chloe Levy and Shannon Wolfe by an 8-3 margin.
 
The highlight of the doubles session for Ithaca came in the first slot. The senior tandem of Caroline Dunn and Kathryn Shaffer showed excellent grit and determination in a hard-fought win to keep the Bombers within striking distance heading into singles. The matchup against Anne Taylor and Kristen Zablonski was a marathon that would go to a tiebreaker. Ultimately, it was Dunn and Shaffer to secured the final two clutch points in the battle, outlasting the Tiger duo 8-6 to snag a much-needed team point.
 
The Bombers received a pair of impressive performances at the top of the lineup in the singles session. Ruback bested Ying 6-3, 6-1 in straight sets. Dunn added a thrilling three-set marathon victory that was extremely tight in the second slot. Dunn bested RIT's Anne Taylor 7-5 in the opening set, but Taylor responded with a 6-4 second set to force a third. Again the final set was a battle, which Dunn ultimately won in another 7-5 decision.
 
Unfortunately, the Bombers were unable to pull out results in the lower part of the lineup. The closest battle was at third-singles, as Dyszewski fought hard against RIT's Ginster. IC's rookie scored a 6-4 win in the opening set and nearly closed things out, before coming up shy in a 7-5 decision in the second set. The third-set was not as close, as Ginster pulled away for the 6-2 win.
 
First-years Rel Klein, Chloe Levy and Shannon Wolfe suffered defeats in the fourth, fifth and sixth slots, respectively.
 
Ithaca is back in action this weekend when it travels to Union for a 10:00 a.m. start on Saturday, April 13.