ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College women's tennis team kept its run of strong play down the stretch going when the Bombers concluded Liberty League action against RPI inside the Athletics & Events Center's Glazer Arena on Saturday morning. The Bombers improved their record to 3-5 in Liberty League play with a 6-3 victory over the Engineers, in the process officially clinching a berth to next month's Liberty League Tournament.
 
The performance was a fitting result for the pomp and circumstance of the day, as Ithaca honored senior members Caroline Dunn and Kathryn Shaffer for four years of excellent service to the program during a post-match Senior Day Ceremony. IC scored wins in two-of-three doubles tilts and quickly clinched matters with wins in the first three singles matches to conclude in the day's second session. The victory in IC's third win over the past five Liberty League contests.
 
Ithaca 6 – RPI 3
 
Doubles
1. Caroline Dunn/Kathryn Shaffer (ITHACA) def. Brenda Peng/Sanjana Surapeneni (RPI) | 8-5
2. Brianna Ruback/Alexandra Dyszewski (ITHACA) def. Andrea Valencia/Nisha Rajamohan (RPI) | 8-6
3. Jolee McCluskey/Elly Klages (RPI) def. Sara Steinberg/Shannon Wolfe (ITHACA) | 8-4
 
Singles
1. Brianna Ruback (ITHACA) def. Sanjana Surapeneni (RPI) | 6-0, 6-1
2. Caroline Dunn (ITHACA) def. Junija Lyu (RPI) | 6-3, 6-2
3. Andrea Valencia (RPI) def. Kathryn Shaffer (ITHACA) | 7-6 (7-4), 7-5
4. Alexandra Dyszewski (ITHACA) def. Nisha Rajamohan (RPI) | 7-6 (8-6), 6-1
5. Sara Steinberg (ITHACA) def. Elise White (RPI) | 6-2, 6-3
6. Jolee McCluskey (RPI) def. Rel Klein (ITHACA) | 6-1, 6-1
 
Ithaca got off to a flying start to the day with a big win from its senior duo in the top doubles bout between Ithaca's Caroline Dunn and Kathryn Shaffer and RPI's Brenda Peng and Sanjana Surapeneni. Dunn and Shaffer quickly jumped out on the Engineer tandem and held a lead for the duration in earning their sixth win as a grouping this season.
 
Although RPI pushed back with an 8-4 win from Jolee McCluskey and Elly Klages against sophomore Sara Steinberg and first-year Shannon Wolfe in the third-doubles matchup, it was Ithaca that took momentum to the singles session. Junior Brianna Ruback and first-year Alexandra Dyszewski held off a late RPI charge from Andrea Valencia and Nisha Rajamohan to win 8-6 in the second-doubles matchup. The effort lifted IC to a 2-1 lead heading into singles.
 
The Bombers kept the pedal to the metal during the singles session, clinching the match with successive wins in the first, second and fourth matchup slots. First, Ruback looked in her best form of the spring in defeating RPI's Surapeneni in dominant straight sets 6-0, 6-1. Dunn quickly followed with her 37^th career singles victory in a 6-3, 6-2 over Junija Lyu in the second-singles matchup. The battle was testy from the outset, but Dunn showed strong poise to shake off some early struggles to win in dominant fashion.
 
For the second straight victory it was Dyszewski who clinched the match for IC in the fourth-singles matchup against Nisha Rajamohan. The first set was an incredible grind that went he distance and then some in a highly entertaining tiebreaker. Dyszewski trailed for portions of the opening set, but stormed back to force the breaker, in which she edged Rajamohan by an 8-6 margin. IC's rookie rode the momentum into the second set, which she easily pulled away for the team's clinching fifth point with a 6-1 win.
 
Shaffer was in an entertaining battle herself, but unfortunately came up on the short end of what was the most competitive matchup of the day. Facing RPI's Andrea Valencia, hardly anything separated the two players, but Valencia prevailed 7-6 (7-4), 7-5.
 
The Bombers capped the day by splitting the fifth and sixth matchups. Steinberg turned in one of her strongest performances of the season, moving to 3-4 in Liberty League play with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Elise White in the fifth slot. RPI finished off the 6-3 final when McCluskey bested IC's rookie Rel Klein in consecutive 6-1, 6-1 sets.
 
Ithaca will be back in action on Thursday, April 25, when it concludes the regular-season home slate with a 4:00 p.m. tilt against Hamilton.