MENDON, N.Y. (October 14, 2007) – Top-seeded Ithaca College captured its third-straight Empire 8 Women's Tennis Championship with a 5-2 victory over Stevens Institute of Technology on Sunday at the Tennis Heaven indoor facility in Mendon, N.Y. With the win, the Bombers improved to 10-0 and received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship, which will be held in the spring.

In its first season in the Empire 8, Stevens had a very solid showing in reaching the finals of the postseason tournament. The Ducks rolled through the regular season with a 7-1 mark in league play and earned the No. 2 seed for the playoffs. Sunday's loss to Ithaca dropped Stevens to 13-3 overall and closed out competition for the fall. The Ducks will return to action in the spring however.

In the loss to Ithaca, senior Dana Bacalla and freshman Allyson Kingman defeated junior Alyssa Jaffe (Montvale, N.J.) and sophomore Devra Reiman (Maplewood, N.J.) by the score of 8-6 at No. 1 doubles. Juniors Whitney Bender and Rebecca Ryba dropped an 8-4 decision to freshmen Melanie Cohen (Ambler, Pa.) and Melissa Nunez (Rockaway, N.J.) at second doubles. In the third-doubles flight, sophomore Natalie Schloeder and freshman Kendra Appleheimer lost to senior Rachel Gunderson (Bemus Point, N.Y.) and junior Natalie Jenereski (Butler, Pa.) by an 8-2 count.

At No. 1 singles, Bacalla remained unbeaten against Empire 8 foes as she topped Cohen in straight-sets (6-1, 6-1). Gunderson was victorious in her match against Bender at second singles (6-3, 6-4). Reiman topped Appleheimer by the score of 6-1, 6-1 at fourth singles. Sophomore Sarah Hollis (Fairfield, Conn.) defeated Ryba by the identical score at No. 5 singles. Due to the fact that Ithaca accumulated five team points, the matches at third and fifth singles were not played to completion.

At the time, Kingman was locked in a tight battle with Jaffe in the third flight. Kingman won the first set 7-6 (7-5) but trailed 2-1 in the second set. At sixth singles, Schloeder dropped the first set to Jenereski 6-2 before the match was halted.

The Bombers have won three straight Empire 8 women's tennis titles, four of the past five, and six of the nine conference championships. Stevens has two matches lined up for the spring at this time. The Ducks will take on Hunter College on April 2 at 3:30 p.m. in Hoboken, N.J. Stevens will also travel to SUNY New Paltz to take on the Red Hawks on April 9 at 3:30 p.m.