The College of Staten Island women’s tennis team saw their 2014-15 season come to an end today, falling to Ithaca College, 5-0, in the opening round of the NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament at the campus of Bowdoin College in Brunswick, ME.
The Bombers (14-8) advance to the Second Round for the fourth consecutive season where they will face Bowdoin on Saturday morning at 11:00 a.m. The Dolphins, who were making their second-straight NCAA Tournament appearance, finish the season with a record of 13-5.
Ithaca sprinted to a 3-0 lead in doubles play thanks to 8-1 wins from their #1 duo, Haley Kusak/Carly Siegel, and #3 pairing of Alyssa Steinweis/Kelly Fishback. The closest of the three doubles matches was between Ithaca’s Allison Vizgaitis/Marni Blumenthal and Staten Island’s Sabrina Bragerton-Nasert/Madiha Mulla. Vizgaitis and Blumenthal pulled away late for an 8-4 triumph to give the Bombers a commanding three-point lead heading into singles.
Ithaca closed out the match with a 6-1, 6-0 triumph from Alyssa Steinweis over Aziza Jurabaeva at #5 and a 6-0, 6-0 win at #3 from Allison Vizgaitis against Sophia Varriano.
“We didn’t play the way we needed to in doubles,” said Head Coach Arthur Kapetanakis. “We were more competitive in singles play, but the tournament has helped us realize where we need to be for the future, and hopefully we can come back next year even stronger.”
At the time play was halted, Ithaca did have a set lead in all but No. 2 Singles, where Bragerton-Nasert was locked up with IC’s Carly Siegel, leading by a modest, 4-3, count in the first set.
This was CSI’s second appearance overall in the tourney.
