ROCHESTER, NY- The Utica College women's tennis team had its historic season come to an end Thursday as it fell to host and No. 2 seed St. John Fisher College 5-4.
 
The Pioneers, who made their first Empire 8 Tournament appearance since 2006, finish with a 5-3 record overall. This marks Utica's first season over .500 in over 15 years.  
 
Utica trailed 2-1 after the doubles matches with freshmen Ellen Collie (Harbor Springs, MI) and Ellen Lyga (New Hartford, NY/Notre Dame) earning a big 8-0 win in first doubles.  Utica gained some ground in the singles matches thanks to wins by Collie in first singles (6-3, 6-3), Lyga in second singles (6-1, 6-1), and Morgan Willis (Queensbury, NY/Queensbury) in third singles (6-1, 6-2).
 
With the score knotted at 4-4, St. John Fisher pick up the deciding win (6-4, 6-3) in No. 5 singles to win the match 5-4.
 
Collie wrapped up the year going undefeated in singles play (8-0), including seven wins in No. 1 singles. Ellen Lyga (New Hartford, NY/Notre Dame) finished her first year of collegiate tennis with a 7-1 record in singles play, while Morgan Willis (Queensbury, NY/Queensbury) was 7-0 in third singles.
 
Utica shows some promising potential as five of its six core players are sophomores or freshmen.