Empire 8 Announces Women's Tennis All-Conference Team; Dana Bacalla of Stevens Named Player of the Year
October 17, 2007
ROCHESTER, NY – Senior Dana Bacalla of Stevens Institute of Technology was named the 2007 Empire 8 Women’s Tennis Player of the Year. She was named to the all-conference first team in singles and in doubles. Bacalla earned her third straight conference honor after being chosen as Skyline Conference Player of the Year the past two seasons.
Bacalla, who tore her ACL after last season, posted an 18-1 record in first singles (16-0 in dual matches) and a 10-0 mark in Empire 8 play. She teamed with Allyson Kingman to win nine of 10 Empire 8 matches in first doubles and record a 16-2 overall record.
Senior Katie Calfee of Alfred University, the 2006 Player of the Year, was named to the all-conference first team for the fourth time. She won nine of 10 matches in first singles.
Two players from conference champion Ithaca College received first-team recognition. Senior Rachel Gunderson has recorded a 13-3 record in second singles and earned the Most Valuable Player honor at the conference championship tournament.
Melanie Cohen of the Bombers was named to the first team and selected 2007 Empire 8 Women’s Tennis Rookie of the Year. She has posted a 12-4 record in first singles.
Junior Rachel Leonard of Nazareth College received first-team honors for the third time. She finished 8-3 in second singles with two wins over first-team all-conference players.
Junior Whitney Bender joined her teammate Bacalla on the first team after registering 14 wins in second singles, including seven against conference opponents.
Bill Austin repeated as Empire 8 Coach of the Year for leading Ithaca to its third consecutive conference title and sixth championship in nine years, and a second straight bid to the NCAA Division III Women’s Tennis Championship.
One member of each team was named that institution’s representative on the 2007 Women’s Tennis Sportswoman of the Year Team. Empire 8 emphasizes that "Competing with Honor and Integrity" is an essential component of a student-athlete’s experience in conjunction with an institution’s educational mission. These honorees have distinguished themselves and consistently exhibit the critical traits as outstanding sportswomen.
Empire 8 2007 Women’s Tennis All-Conference Awards
Player of the Year: Dana Bacalla, Stevens Institute of Technology
Rookie of the Year: Melanie Cohen, Ithaca College
Coach of the Year: Bill Austin, Ithaca College