ALBANY, N.Y. – Russell Sage College takes on top-seeded Hartwick on Friday in the Empire 8 Conference Championship Tournament Semifinal. The noon playoff match will be held at RPI with Latham's Tri-City Fitness serving as the indoor site.
2024 Empire 8 Conference Championship Tournament Semifinal: Gators (Four Seed) at Hartwick (One Seed)
Friday, October 18, 2024 | 12:00 PM | Live Video | Live Stats
Outdoor Venue: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Sharp Courts, Burdett Rd., Troy, NY 12180
Indoor Venue: Tri City Fitness, 944 Loudon Rd, Latham, NY 12110
Admission: $6.00 - Adults, $4.00 - Students and seniors with ID, Free - Children under 12
#4 RSC Gators (8-5/5-3 E8): Roster| Stats
#1 Hartwick (10-1/8-0 E8): Roster| Schedule
RSC Tennis in the E8 Championship Tournament: This marks the Gators third appearance in the E8 Championship Tournament. RSC also qualified in 2019 and Spring 2021. The Gators also reached the semis during their 2019 tourney run.
Gator Bites: RSC, under the direction of Head Coach Michael Branche, qualified for the E8 Championship Tournament for the third time in program history…The Gators established a program record with its five E8 Conference wins this autumn…RSC 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… 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…Junior Tirzah Spivey (Clifton Park, NY/Schenectady), 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 entered the postseason with a 12-0 singles record…Freshman Marian 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…She headed into the postseason with a 22-2 overall record, 11-0 in number one singles…Aguirre is 132-13 in singles matches, 84-8 in Conference contests…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.
Up Next: The E8 Championship Final is Saturday at 2:00 PM and will be held either at RPI or Latham's Tri-City Fitness.
