ITHACA, N.Y. – The postseason begins Friday, May 3, for the Ithaca College women's and men's teams as both programs will head across town to Cornell's Reis Tennis Center for the 2019 Liberty League Tournament. In essence, Friday will dawn a new season for both IC programs, as the slates wipe clean and the final sprint for the Liberty League's automatic berth to the upcoming NCAA Tournament commences.
 
Both the IC men and women sit three victories away from capturing that ultimate goal when play gets underway on Friday. The IC women will begin the day's action at 11:30 a.m. when the Bombers face third-seeded William Smith in the second overall match of the day. The IC men will follow the women in the first of two men's quarterfinal matches to be played on the day when they face fifth-seeded Vassar at 2:15 p.m.
 
Women's Schedule
**NOTE: All matches after Friday's Quarterfinal Round are contingent on winning the previous match**
Friday, May 3 - #6 Ithaca vs. #3 William Smith – 11:30 a.m.
Saturday, May 4 – Liberty League Semifinal vs. #2 Vassar – 11:30 a.m. **
Sunday, May 5 – Liberty League Championship Match – 10:00 a.m. **
 
Men's Schedule
**NOTE: All matches after Friday's Quarterfinal Round are contingent on winning the previous match**
Friday, May 3 - #4 Ithaca vs. #5 Vassar – 2:15 p.m.
Saturday, May 4 – Liberty League Semifinal vs. #1 Skidmore – 2:15 p.m. **
Sunday, May 5 – Liberty League Championship Match – 2:00 p.m. **
 
Regular-Season Meeting – Women vs. William Smith
The Bombers dropped a 7-2 decision to William Smith in a home match earlier this season at the Athletics & Events Center's Glazer Arena on April 2. Ithaca scored one team point during the doubles session with seniors Kathryn Shaffer and Caroline Dunn earning an 8-4 decision in the first slot against Maggie Bonomo and Dina Rigas. The Herons pulled away during the singles session, with Shaffer earning IC's lone victory in a third-slot triumph over Kate Foley 6-4, 6-3.
 
Regular-Season Meeting – Men vs. Vassar
It was against Vassar that the IC men altered the trajectory of their season when the teams met at the Athletics & Events Center's Glazer Arena on Saturday, March 30. The Bombers entered the day with an 0-2 record in Liberty League play and just a 1-7 mark overall, but completely overwhelmed the Brewers in a comprehensive 7-2 win. For the first time in 2019, IC swept all three doubles matchups to take a commanding lead into the singles session. Junior Minos Stavrakas, as well as seniors Sam McGrath, Michael Gardiner and Garrett Boleslav all emerged with wins in singles to pull away.
 
Program First
Friday will mark the first time that the Ithaca College women will be competing in the Liberty League postseason in just the team's second season affiliated with the conference. The Bombers narrowly missed out on a postseason berth in their inaugural Liberty League campaign a season ago.
 
Snapping the Skid
The IC women enter play on Friday looking to snap out of a bit of funk. The Bombers were held without a team point in both of their final two non-league contests during the season's final week, falling to NESCAC foes Hamilton and Trinity (Conn.) in 9-0 shutouts. Ithaca did have a strong outing in its most recent Liberty League contest, securing its berth to the postseason with a 6-3 home victory over RPI during Senior Day on April 20.
 
Persevering Through Pain
It has been a rocky season for the women's tennis program, who has had to deal with significant adversity throughout the campaign. The resiliency of the team to battle through these challenging situations cannot be understated, as the team qualified for the postseason despite having no less than five players see time out of the lineup for various injuries and ailments. The Bombers rallied for three victories over the final five matches of the Liberty League slate to punch their tickets to the postseason.
 
Recapturing Form
The Ithaca men are also looking to shake off a difficult finish to the regular-season. In what was likely the toughest portion of the team's schedule, the Bombers dropped their final four contests with Liberty League losses to Skidmore and RPI as well as road defeats to NESCAC competition in Hamilton and Trinity (Conn.). Ithaca will look to recapture the form that led to four victories in five match span beginning with that win over Vassar on March 30.
 
Closing in on Top-10
A big part of Ithaca's success if it should make a deep run on the men's side is going to come from top junior Minos Stavrakas. The third-year netter is in the midst of another fine season, entering play with 14 official singles wins on the year, as well as 11 additional wins in doubles. He is currently closing in on the program's Top-10 list for career singles wins and could reach the mark as early as this weekend if IC should advance all the way to the Championship Match on Sunday. Stavrakas is currently three singles wins shy of tying the 10^th-place mark of 50 set by Collin Flynn '07.