HOBOKEN, N.J. (September 2, 2007) – Junior Whitney Bender earned the clinching point with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over sophomore Alexis Stanley (Vestal, N.Y.) as the Stevens Institute of Technology women’s tennis team moved to 2-0 in the Empire 8 with a hard-fought 5-4 win over Rochester Institute of Technology on Sunday in Hoboken, N.J. The Ducks earned the victory by capturing two of three doubles flights and three of six singles matches.
At No. 1 doubles, senior Dana Bacalla teamed with freshman Allyson Kingman to shut out junior Brianne Francisco (Amsterdam, N.Y.) and freshman Michelle Caporali (Endicott, N.Y.) by the score of 8-0. Junior Rebecca Ryba and Bender added an 8-5 victory in the second flight. RIT (1-1, 1-1 Empire 8) claimed the third flight as senior Leigh Bryson (Wallingford, Conn.) and Stanley defeated sophomore Natalie Schloeder and freshman Kendra Appleheimer, 8-2.
Bacalla rolled to a 6-0, 6-2 win at first singles. Kingman was a straight-sets winner (6-3, 6-1) over Caporali at third singles. The Tigers captured wins at fourth through sixth singles. Appleheimer suffered a tough three-set loss (4-6, 6-0, 5-7) to Bryson at No. 4 singles.
Stevens (2-0) will be back in action on Wednesday when it hosts Fairleigh Dickinson University at 3:30 p.m.
