Women's Tennis | 10/15/2008 9:54:14 AM

ROCHESTER, NY – Sophomore Amanda Berg (Mendham, NJ/Mendham) (Mendham, NJ/Mendham) of the RIT women's tennis team, was named the 2008 Empire 8 Women's Tennis Player of the Year, as the conference doled out its end of the season honors on Tuesday.  Seniors Brianne Francisco (Amsterdam, NY/Amsterdam) (Amsterdam, NY/Amsterdam), Sara Paduano (North Tonawanda, NY/North Tonawanda) (North Tonawanda, NY/North Tonawanda) and #Joanna Cash (Rochester, NY/Brighton)# (Rochester, NY/Brighton), along with junior Alexis Stanley (Vestal, NY/Vestal) (Vestal, NY/Vestal) also garnered All-Empire 8 accolades.

Berg, who transferred to RIT after being named the New Jersey Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year while at the College of New Jersey, enjoyed a tremendous season.  Berg finished went undefeated in both singles and doubles in regular season conference play, not losing a single set.  She earned first team singles honors and teamed with Francisco to garner first team honors in doubles.  Berg is currently 15-2 this season and is expected to be one of the top seeds at the 2008 New York State Championships this weekend at Cornell University.

Francisco, a first team singles selection in 2005 and second team selection in 2006, teamed with Berg to record a 12-3 mark in doubles this season.  The duo was perfect during the regular season in conference play.  It is also Francisco's third All-Empire 8 doubles honors, having earned first team accolades in 2005 and honorable mention in 2006.

Stanley earned All-Empire 8 second team honors in singles.  Stanley went 6-2 during the season in Empire 8 play, competing at third singles for RIT.  She is currently 7-6 in 2008.  She was an honorable mention selection in doubles last year.

Paduano, who rotated between fifth and sixth singles, garnered honorable mention accolades after going 6-2 in conference matches during the year.  Paduano, who was named the RIT Female Athlete of the Week on Monday, is 8-6 at singles this season. She was an honorable mention selection in doubles last year.

Cash was RIT's representative as the Empire 8 Sportsperson of the Year. 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.

RIT finished second in the conference with a 7-1 mark and advanced to the Empire 8 Championship match were they fell to Ithaca.  RIT, who finished the season with a 9-4 overall mark, concludes its season on Friday and Saturday at the New York State Championships, held at the Reis Tennis Center on the campus of Cornell University.