ELMIRA, N.Y. -- The Elmira College women's tennis team will look to turn things around this weekend, when the Soaring Eagles travel to face a pair of non-conference foes from the SUNYAC. Elmira will face the Red Dragons of SUNY Oneonta on Saturday, September 24th, before making the trek to take on Oswego State the following afternoon.
 
LAST TIME OUT: Elmira suffered a 6-3 setback in its most recent contest to Empire 8 rival, St. John Fisher College. The Cardinals picked up a pair of 8-1 wins at second and third doubles, before earning straight-set victories at third, fourth, fifth and sixth singles to secure the win. Elmira's Tilila El Yazidi '20 and Megan Fitzgerald '18 were double-winners on the day. El Yazidi teamed up with Fitzgerald for an 8-2 win at the top doubles spot, before blanking her opponent at No. 1 singles 6-0, 6-0. Fitzgerald capped off the day's wins with a 6-3, 6-2 victory at the second spot.
 
MOVIN' ON UP: Fitzgerald's wins over the Cardinals brought her career win total to 48 matches, which moved the third-year talent into a two-way tie for fifth place with former teammate Amy Schmidt '15 in the EC record book. With two additional wins, Fitzgerald will become the fifth player in program history to reach the 50-win plateau.
 
SCOUTING ONEONTA: The Red Dragons enter the weekend with a 5-2 overall record with a 1-2 mark in SUNYAC play. Oneonta's only two losses of the season came to conference powers, SUNY New Paltz and SUNY Geneseo. Oneonta won its most recent contest, a 7-2 road victory over Farmingdale State, which brought the Red Dragons' away record to 3-0 on the 2016 season. Alana Green and Jacqueline Guidice hold down the top two singles positions and boast identical 5-2 records. The duo have also teamed up to post a 4-3 mark in doubles action, with all four wins occurring at the No. 1 position.
 
SCOUTING OSWEGO: The Lakers have struggled in their opening six matches, winning just once against Wells College in that time. Since Oswego's win over Wells on September 10th, the Lakers have dropped three consecutive matches, two of which have come against SUNYAC foes. Its most recent setback came against Empire 8 affiliate, Alfred University, by a 7-2 final. Looking up and down the Oswego lineup, it is clear that its strength rests in the bottom half, as the Lakers have combined for a 7-11 record at fourth, fifth and sixth singles; Oswego is a mere 3-15 at the first, second and third positions. Lorrayne Broach is the team-leader in wins with a combined singles and doubles record of 5-3 (3-1 doubles).
 
ALL-TIME SERIES: Elmira has faced both Oneonta and Oswego plenty of times over the years. The Soaring Eagles have struggled historically against the Red Dragons, winning just once in 12 meetings. However, EC has had much more success against the Lakers with a 16-7 all-time record.
 
LOOKING AHEAD: Follow Sunday's match with Oswego, the Elmira women will enjoy a week-long break from action before facing the Saxons of Alfred University on Saturday, October 1st. The Empire 8 contest is scheduled to start at 1:00 p.m. in Alfred, New York.