Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 UTICA, NY - The Utica University women's tennis team returns to play this weekend as they dive straight into Empire 8 Conference play with a pair of road matchups. On Friday, the squad will head to Rochester for a contest with the Nazareth Golden Flyers, starting at 4:00 PM at the Annette Shapiro Tennis Courts. Then, on Sunday, the Pioneers will travel further south for a meeting with the Geneseo Knights at the Geneseo Tennis Courts. That Sunday showdown will begin at 1:00 PM in the Genesee Valley. 

Recapping Last Week's Trio of Matches: Last week, the team took on three different teams, traveling to Oswego on Wednesday before a Saturday-Sunday doubleheader against Houghton and Alfred University to begin conference play. Below is a recap of each matchday:

Wednesday at Oswego: Lyndsey Tiedemann (Salt Point, NY/Franklin D Roosevelt) turned in a great performance once again, challenging the Lakers' top singles player in Avery Borman and nearly taking a huge victory. Tiedemann fell in a very competitive first set 6-4, before losing 6-2 in the second set. Despite the setback, the senior starter has been adapting well to the top of the stack, playing better and better in each singles appearance. 

Victoria Elefante (Clinton, NY/Clinton) also shot out of the gates on Wednesday afternoon, fighting hard and grabbing three games in the first set of her #4 singles matchup against Emily DeLuca. The senior from Clinton did well in the matchup.

Freshman Natalyn Williams (Fort Drum, NY/Carthage) got the nod to be the Pioneers #2, slotting in against the second-best Oswego player Sabrina Achki. The rookie from the north country grabbed two games in her singles bout. 

The other three singles players, Hannah Loebbaka (Saugerties, NY/Saugerties) , Saige Burton (Chittenango, NY/Chittenango), and Kimora-Lee Simmons (Utica, NY/Thomas R. Proctor)all nabbed a game during their respective singles matches.

Saturday vs Houghton: The Pioneers had their 2025 home-opener on Saturday against the Highlanders, welcoming the western team in what was also the orange and blue's first Empire 8 match of the season. 

Up against their first conference opponent, the Pioneers battled hard in the doubles portion of the match, especially the third doubles pairing of Hannah Loebbaka (Saugerties, NY/Saugerties) and Camryn Donley (West Winfield, NY/Mount Markham). The two freshmen had an excellent match in their battle against Abigail Lloyd and Angeline Miller, as they fought hard in an eventual 6-4 loss. The match was exciting throughout, though, with fast-paced play and a very competitive energy. Loebbaka did well at the front of the net, parrying many Highlander attacks to find scoring opportunities from close range, while Donley patrolled the backline, firing over powerful shots from long distance. 

In singles action, Tiedemann, Elefante, and Slater all engaged in competitive matchups, with Tiedemann managing to pull four games away from the Highlanders' top singles player in Arija Grant. Elefante took three games of her matchup with Zoe Zachary, while Slater fought hard in the second set of her bout against Abigail Lloyd, taking three games in the final frame. 

Sunday at Alfred: To end off a busy week, the Pioneers traveled to Alfred for a matchup against the Saxons. The team battled against some tough opposition, but eventually fell in the matchup to end off a three-game gauntlet. 

In singles action, Tiedemann once again got the nod to face the top Saxon singles player Alina Zabihailo. The Pioneers' ace managed to pull three games away from the Saxon striker, but ended up faltering and fell in straight sets. 

Natalyn Williams (Fort Drum, NY/Carthage) also won some games as well, showing signs of finding her footing at the #2 singles spot for Utica. She grabbed four games in her match with Elizabeth Madsen. 

Kimora-Lee Simmons (Utica, NY/Thomas R. Proctor), Elefante, Loebbaka, and Slater all stole a few games in their respective battles, but fell to their Saxon counterparts to end off the week.

This Week's Slate: The Pioneers will now jump into the heart of conference play, facing a pair of Empire 8 sides in Nazareth and Geneseo. First up is a Friday fight against the Golden Flyers, which will begin at 4:00 from the Annette Shapiro Tennis Courts. The, Sunday will feature a trip to Geneseo for a battle with the Knights which will begin at 1:00 at the Geneseo Tennis Courts. 

Scouting Nazareth: The Golden Flyers are only two games into their 2025 campaign, with the Friday tilt against the Pioneers slated to be their home-opener. Those two losses include a 5-2 loss at Daemen and a 7-0 sweep loss at the hands of Geneseo, Utica's other opponent this week. 

In their most recent matchup, Catherine Zak and McKenna Ellis slotted in as the #1 and #2 singles players, respectively, also joining forces in the #1 doubles matchup. Zak had an exciting outing against the top Geneseo player, Natalie Pipes in the #1 singles bout, taking the first set to 13 games before eventually falling 7-6 and losing the next set to bow out with a 2-set loss. Ellis was dispatched quickly in her #2 singles match, with the pair also falling 6-3 in their #1 doubles appearance. 

The #3 doubles match was also a competitive one, with the pair of Paige Masrouri and Isabella Iannitti losing 7-5.

Scouting Geneseo:

The Knights got out to a 0-2 start in 2025, before taking two-straight victories against SUNY Cortland and the aforementioned Nazareth Golden Flyers. 

Before the dominance against Nazareth, three Knights racketers held a record of 2-1, with the other three coming in at 1-2. Talia Wutz, Samantha Rava, and Lauren Levatino had those three winning records; however, only Rava was facing top-three competition during those three matches. Natalie Pipes and Rachel Molloy occupy the #1 and #3 singles spots respectively, posting 1-2 records in the first three outings while battling the opposition's top talent. 

In the doubles domain, prior to Nazareth, the pairing of Pipes and JoAnn Catalano posted a 2-1 record, while Rava and Molloy had a 1-2 mark. 

The Following Week: The Pioneers will take on two Oneonta-based teams next week, heading to Oneonta State on Wednesday, September 24th before facing Hartwick at home on Friday, September 26th.