ELMIRA, N.Y. -- The Elmira College women's tennis team is set to host Bard College and Rochester Institute of Technology out of the Liberty League on Saturday, September 17th. The EC Fall Invite will be played outdoors on the courts of nearby Ernie Davis Academy, beginning at 9:30 a.m.

LAST TIME OUT: Elmira faced a tough test in its most recent contest, as the Soaring Eagles played host to the Bombers of Ithaca College last Thursday evening. The 11-time defending Empire 8 champs showed little mercy in Thursday's conference bout, as the Bombers marched away with a 9-0 victory over the Soaring Eagles. The loss dropped Elmira's overall record to 1-4 on the year and 0-3 in E8 play.

FOUR-MATCH HOME STRETCH: This weekend's non-league matches against Bard and RIT will mark the third and fourth straight home contests for the Soaring Eagles. The four-match stretch of home contests are the most the team has had since the 2013 fall season, when the Purple and Gold played five straight at the Murray Athletic Center (5-0). 

FITZGERALD CONTINUES CLIMB: Not to be outdone by her freshman doubles partner, Megan Fitzgerald '18 has been just as impressive through the early stages of the 2016 season. Like Tilila El Yazidi '20, Fitzgerald is also 8-0 on the year with a quartet of wins in singles and doubles. She ascended to seventh place in EC history for career wins (42) and moved into a two-way tie for seventh place for career doubles wins (21). With eight additional wins this season, Fitzgerald will become the fifth player in program history to reach the 50-win plateau. 

SCOUTING BARD: The Raptors have only played two matches through the first few weeks of the 2016 season, but Bard is unbeaten in those contests with wins over St. Joseph's (LI) and Mount Saint Mary. Bard's two victories already match the team's 2015 win total (2-11). Amelia Tiemann has been solid in her second season with the Raptors, as the California native boasts an unblemished 4-0 overall record. Tiemann is 2-0 at second singles and has not dropped a set thus far; she is also 2-0 at second doubles with partner MacKenzie Wardell.
 
SCOUTING RIT: The Tigers will have played their first dual match of the 2016 season on Friday afternoon against Brockport. However, RIT has match-experience under its belt from the two-day Mary Hosking Invitational, hosted by William Smith College. At the invite, Brianna Dimisko, Taylor Thum, and Amelia Ying picked up singles wins, while the duo of Diana Kulawiec and Valerie Luttman claimed the team's lone doubles victory. RIT will be looking to build off of last year's 4-14 season. 

UP NEXT: Following today's non-league matches, Elmira resumes its conference schedule on Tuesday, September 20th, when the Soaring Eagles travel to face the Cardinals of St. John Fisher College.