Box Score (PDF)
ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College women's tennis team got the postseason underway on Friday afternoon when it made the short trip across town to East Hill for the Quarterfinal Round of the 2019 Liberty League Championships at Cornell's Reis Tennis Center. Entering the day as the tournament's sixth-seed, IC had a challenging matchup against third-seed William Smith in what was the second of two quarterfinal matches on the women's side on the day. Unfortunately, Ithaca's 2018-19 campaign came to an end against the Herons, as William Smith scored a 5-0 victory that was much closer than the final score may have indicated.
Ithaca has really battled throughout the 2018-19 campaign, overcoming mounting injuries and ailments during a grueling spring slate in one of the Northeast's toughest tennis conferences. IC's berth into the Liberty League Tournament was a testament to the team's resiliency and fortitude showcased during the regular-season. Despite facing a daunting task in the talented Finger Lakes rival Herons, the Bombers turned in a really strong start to the day and for a time looked to be building towards an upset. Sadly, things turned a bit sour during the end of the doubles session and the Bombers were never able to recover in dropping the contest by a 5-0 margin.
Doubles
1. Maggie Bonomo/Dina Rigas (WSC) def. Kathryn Shaffer/Caroline Dunn (ITHACA) | 8-7 (9-7)
2. Kate Foley/Allie Perron (WSC) def. Brianna Ruback/Alexandra Dyszewski (ITHACA) | 8-6
3. Charlotte Engebrecht/Katelyn Nguyen (WSC) def. Sara Steinberg/Shannon Wolfe (ITHACA) | 8-1
Singles
1. Allie Perron (WSC) vs. Brianna Ruback (ITHACA) | 3-6, 3-0 **UNFINISHED**
2. Maggie Bonomo (WSC) def. Caroline Dunn (ITHACA) | 6-0, 6-1
3. Kate Foley (WSC) vs. Kathryn Shaffer (ITHACA) | 7-5, 0-1 **UNFINISHED**
4. Dina Rigas (WSC) vs. Alexandra Dyszewski (ITHACA) | 3-6, 6-0 **UNFINISHED**
5. Leland Barclay (WSC) def. Sara Steinberg (ITHACA) | 6-4, 6-1
6. Alex Greenberg (WSC) vs. Rel Klein (ITHACA) | 6-1, 5-3 **UNFINISHED**
Play was delayed just over an hour on Friday, as the day's first quarterfinal match between RIT and St. Lawrence lasted nearly four hours, before the Tigers ultimately were able to seal the victory. The long period of waiting for both William Smith and Ithaca did nothing to subdue a spirited start, which got underway just after 12:30 p.m.
The Bombers turned in a really excellent session during the early going, putting the Herons on their collective heels. Although William Smith was able to strike first on the team score with Charlotte Engebrecht and Katelyn Nguyen securing a convincing 8-1 win over Ithaca's combo of sophomore
Sara Steinberg and first-year
Shannon Wolfe in the third slot, the Bombers held leads for a long time in both of the top two doubles matchups. Ithaca carried the advantages deep into the session, but ultimately had things slip away late.
The second-doubles tilt was the second to conclude during the session with junior
Brianna Ruback and first-year
Alexandra Dyszewski giving William Smith's tandem of Kate Foley and Allie Perron all they could handle. With IC's duo leading the matchup by a 5-4 count, William Smith's combo earned a big double-flip with a held serve and then a service break to pull ahead for the first time in the match at 6-5. The Herons held serve again to up the advantage to 7-5. Although Ruback was able to hold serve for the Bombers to extend the match, William Smith clinched things on serve to up the team lead to 2-0.
The closest battle of the day came in the first lineup slot, as IC's senior duo of
Caroline Dunn and
Kathryn Shaffer performed quite well. Like their teammates in the second position, Dunn and Shaffer also led their matchup against Maggie Bonomo and Dina Rigas for the majority, before William Smith was able to force a tiebreaker. The back-and-forth continued during the breaker with both teams answering each other point-for-point. Dunn and Shaffer had a match point opportunity at 7-6, but the Herons were able to rattle off three straight points to clinch the third team point.
What at one point looked to be a spirited 2-1 lead for the Bombers coming out of the doubles session, suddenly turned into a deflating 3-0 deficit.
The Herons clinched things with the first two wins in the singles session to close out the match, which was played under postseason rules ending the match once a team hits the five-point mark. Bonomo bested Dunn 6-0, 6-1 in second singles, while Leland Barclay delivered the clinching point for William Smith in a 6-4, 6-1 win over Ithaca's Steinberg.
Matches that went unfinished on the day included: Ruback, Shaffer, Dyszewski and first-year
Rel Klein. Ruback was up a set, but down three games in the second set when play was ended. Dyszewski was impressive in her first set against William Smith's Dina Rigas, winning it 6-3, while the players were just about to begin a third set at the time of the clinch. Klein scored four total games on William Smith's Alex Greenberg, but was set to face a match point at sixth-singles trailing 6-1, 5-3. Shaffer was also competitive in her opening set, falling by a 7-5 count, while play was just in the second game of the second set when the match was ended.
