Appleheimer, Catanzano Spark Women's Tennis Empire 8 Championship Semifinal Win Over RIT
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (October 24, 2009) – Junior co-captain Kendra Appleheimer and freshman Brooke Catanzano went a combined 4-0 in singles and doubles action to key the Stevens Institute of Technology women’s tennis team’s, 5-2, victory over Rochester Institute of Technology at the 2009 Empire 8 Championships. With the win Stevens advances to the Empire 8 Championship match against four-time defending champion Ithaca College, which defeated Nazareth College, 9-0, in the day’s other semifinal match.
Appleheimer and freshman Alexandra Handel got Stevens off to a fast start with an 8-2 victory over juniors Julie Burkett (McDonald, Pa.) and Michele Caporali (Endicott, N.Y.) in third-flight doubles before Catanzano and sophomore Morgan Scalzi (Doylestown, Pa.) staked the Ducks to a 2-0 advantage with an 8-5 win over sophomores Lindsey Gibson (Glastonbury, Conn.) and Marie Revekant (Pittsford, N.Y.). RIT junior Amanda Berg (Mendham, N.J.) and senior Alexis Stanley (Vestal, N.Y.) would then stem the Stevens tide with a 8-6 win in top-flight doubles action to pare the Tigers’ deficit to one.
Stevens sophomore Nicole Portner would lead off singles action with a 6-0, 6-2, No. 2 singles win over Stanley, before fellow sophomore Mine Bese downed Caporali, 6-1, 6-2. Berg would notch RIT’s second win of the afternoon with a 6-0, 6-2 No. 1 singles triumph over Ducks junior Allyson Kingman before Catanzano closed out the Tigers with a 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 come-from-behind victory over Gibson.
The Ducks are set to take on the four-time defending champion Bombers in the Empire 8 women’s tennis championship match on Sunday, October 25 at 12 p.m. Last season, Ithaca, which downed Stevens 7-2 earlier this season, defeated Stevens, 5-1 in the semifinal round.
