The Ithaca College Bombers will make their 10th straight trip to the NCAA tournament after winning the Empire 8 postseason championship.The Ithaca College Bombers will make their 10th straight trip to the NCAA tournament after winning the Empire 8 postseason championship.
Ithaca opens play in the NCAA tournament with a first-round match against SUNY Geneseo Friday at Amherst College in Amherst, Mass.
The Bombers (14-7, 8-0 Empire 8) are the 11-time champions of the Empire 8 conference after defeating Stevens Institute of Technology 5-1 in the championship match. Ithaca earned an automatic bid to the tournament and brings a 6-9 record all-time in NCAA tournament competition.
Ithaca is one of 39 schools among the 49 selected for the tournament to qualify via automatic bid by capturing a conference title. It will be the team's 10th-consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
The winner of Ithaca/Geneseo moves on to the second-round on Saturday against Amherst, which is serving as the host school for the six-team regional.
Ithaca is led by junior Haley Kusak, the Empire 8 Player of the Year, who brings a 16-4 record in first singles action into the NCAA tournament.
Freshman Shayna Ginster went 13-6 in singles matches, classmate Caroline Dunn was 12-7, senior Marni Blumenthal was 11-4, and junior Jodi Grosberg was 11-5 to lead a strong group of singles players. IC won 69.1 percent of its singles matches (85 of 123).
In doubles action, the Bombers won 65.1 percent of their matches (41 of 63). Dunn and Ginster were 8-0 combined at first and second doubles while Blumenthal and Kusak were 4-1 at first doubles to lead IC.
Geneseo is currently No. 14 in the Northeast Region rankings and features Cat Crummey, ranked No. 22 for singles.
The two schools have only played each other twice, with Ithaca winning both matches, the last of which came in 1998.
To view the entire women's tennis bracket, click here.
https://www.ithaca.edu/intercom/article.php/20160510144721488