NEW PALTZ, NY — The SUNY New Paltz women’s tennis team might have been the new kid on the block at the New York State Women’s Collegiate Athletic Association (NYSWCAA) Tournament but they weren’t intimidated by the magnitude of the event. The Hawks finished with eight points and tied for ninth with Ithaca College, Hamilton College, and St. Lawrence University among 16 teams in their first ever appearance at the tournament last weekend in Ithaca, NY.
Junior Amie Larson (Port Jervis, NY) and her freshman sister Jen highlighted the Hawks effort at the event. The sisters advanced to the semifinals of the number two doubles flight where they fell to the top-seeded duo of Debbie Sharnak and Diya Uberoi of Vassar, 8-1. They defeated Jennifer Hume and Carlie Schubert from Rochester Institute of Technology, 8-3, in the first round and knocked off the fourth-seeded pair of Sara Feikert and Andrea Terbush from Cortland, 8-6, in the quarterfinals.
Amie made a run through the number four singles flight and advanced to the semifinals before falling to top-seeded Kelly Graham of Vassar, 6-0, 6-0. She defeated Danielle Kocher of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 6-2, 6-3, in the first round and won by default over the number three seed Sara Feikert of Cortland in the quarterfinals.
Jen lost a hard fought match, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4, to New York University’s Carol Young in the first round of the number five singles flight.
In the number one singles flight, junior co-captain Kerry Farrell (Rockville Center, NY) was defeated by Kaitie Donovan of Hamilton, 6-1, 6-0, in the first round. Junior Jessica Smith (Newport News, VA) also lost in the first round to top-seeded Anna Will of Vassar, 6-0, 6-0, in the number six singles flight. In doubles play, Farrell and Smith were eliminated, 8-3, in the first round of the number one flight by Ithaca’s Meghan Carroll and Melissa Walsh.
Junior Amanda Rosario (Bronx, NY) and sophomore Sara Goldstein (Merrick, NY) also participated in the tournament. Rosario was eliminated in the first round of the number two singles flight, 6-0, 6-0, by top-seeded Tara Pajoohi of the University of Rochester. Goldstein was knocked out of the number three singles flight in the first round, 6-0, 6-0, by number one-seeded Debbie Sharnak of Vassar. The duo was the Hawks number three doubles team and they lost in the first round, 8-3, to the top-seeded pair of Christina Gale and Gabrielle Rosenthal from Skidmore.
Vassar took home the team title and earned a berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament.
