UTICA, N.Y. – Russell Sage College Women's Tennis established the program's single-season record for Empire 8 Conference victories with this afternoon's 9-0 blanking of host Utica.
"The team has done an incredible job all season of handling adversity and continuing to push forward," said Head Coach Michael Branche. "I think that this reflects in the amount of close games that we have been able to pull out. The best part of the season so far is how many different players have stepped up in big moments that has led to the most wins for the team in our Empire 8 history."
Freshman Marian Aguirre (Plano, TX/Plano) and junior Tirzah Spivey (Clifton Park, NY/Schenectady), each won their singles matches 6-0, 6-0. Aguirre, the two-time E8 Player of the Week is 21-1 overall across singles and doubles this fall. She is now 120-9 in singles matches, 72-4 in Conference matches.
Spivey, a two-time All-Conference singles selection, improved to 11-0 in singles.
Freshman Jessica Korbieh (Albany, NY/Albany) secured her first collegiate singles victory against the Pioneers (0-10/0-7 E8), a 6-0, 6-1 triumph at number six.
In match with E8 Championship Tournament implications, the Gators (7-4/5-2 E8) will close their regular season on Saturday afternoon at SUNY Geneseo.
Gator Bites: RSC, under the direction of Head Coach Michael Branche, got off to a 6-1 start, its best in a season since 2019…The Gators went 9-1 to begin that fall and finished 10-4…RSC has established a program record with its five Empire 8 Conference wins this autumn…The 2017 and 2019 teams both had four Conference victories…This year's roster is made up of six newcomers and seven returnees on this year's roster…Spivey, a two-time All-Empire 8 Conference singles selection, Emma Nuzzi (Glenville, NY/Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake), a grad student, and senior Emma Vander Baan (Barre, MA/Quabbin Regional) headlined the returning players…Spivey finished 5-1 at first singles in league play last season… She commenced the week with a 10-0 singles record…Aguirre (Plano, TX/Plano) was selected the Empire 8 Conference Player of the Week for the periods ending Sunday, September 8 and Sunday, September 15…The rookie started her collegiate career by going 8-0 across singles and doubles, including a 24-3 singles ledger…Freshmen Olivia Monaco (Campbell Hall, NY/Washingtonville) and Aguirre were chosen the Conference's Doubles Team of the Week for the period ending Sunday, September 22…The duo went 2-0 playing number two doubles that week, winning their two matches by a combined score of 16-4…The first-years started their debut doubles campaign 9-0 overall, 8-0 at number two doubles,… Spivey and Nuzzi were chosen the E8 Doubles Team of the Week for the period ending Sunday, September 29…The top doubles pairing defeated Saint John Fisher 8-1 on Saturday, September 28…Spivey was tabbed the E8 Player of the Week for the period ending Sunday, October 6…She went 3-0 in singles that week, including defeating the reigning E8 Player of the Year from Hartwick on October 4.
