The top-seeded women's tennis team (10-0) wrapped up its fifth straight Empire 8 title, blanking second-seeded Stevens Institute of Technology 5-0 in Sunday's Empire 8 Championship Tournament final. The Bombers, who became the first team to shut out every opponent in the conference tournament, earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA playoffs which begin in May. Freshman Cristina Nunez was named Tournament MVP.
Playoff pairings for the NCAA Championship Tournament will be announced following the completion of the spring season. The Bombers will be making their fourth straight appearance; Ithaca is the only school to ever represent the Empire 8 in the NCAA playoffs.
The win was Ithaca's 42nd in a row over an Empire 8 opponent (30 straight regular-season matches and 12 consecutive wins in postseason play). Sunday's win gave the Bombers their eighth Empire 8 title since women's tennis became a conference sport 11 years ago. Since the league became an all-sports conference in 1999, Ithaca has won 99 of the Empire 8's 188 championships.
The Bombers -- who posted their second straight unbeaten fall season -- swept the three doubles matches and won the first two singles matches played to completion to clinch the 5-0 win. Three other singles contests had begun; Ithaca was leading all three.
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