NEW PALTZ, NY — For the first time in school history, the SUNY New Paltz women’s tennis team will participate in the New York State Women’s Collegiate Athletic Association (NYSWCAA) Tournament. The 2003 tournament will be held this weekend (Oct. 24-26) at the Reis Tennis Center on the campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, NY.
The top 16 Division III women’s tennis teams from the state of New York will participate in the event with the winner receiving an automatic bid to the Division III National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Tournament. The three-day event will begin on Friday night at 8:30 a.m. with the first round of the singles and doubles matches. The tournament resumes on Saturday morning with the singles and doubles second round and quarterfinal matches. The final day of the championship commences on Sunday morning with the semifinals and finals of the singles and doubles competition.
The Hawks, one of three State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) teams in the NYSWCAA field, finished the season with an 8-2 record and placed second among nine teams at the 2003 SUNYAC Championship. SUNYAC foes Cortland and Geneseo also qualified for the tournament.
The six players who will be participating in the NYSWCAA tournament are juniors Kerry Farrell (Rockville Centre, NY), Jessica Smith (Newport News, VA), Amanda Rosario (Bronx, NY), sophomore Sara Goldstein (Merrick, NY), and the Larson sisters, junior Amie and freshman Jen (Port Jervis, NY).
Farrell, a co-captain, amassed a 9-2 record in singles play this season and will be playing in the number one singles flight at the tournament. Smith compiled a 7-1 mark in singles play and will be the New Paltz participant in the number six singles flight. The pair will be the Hawks number one doubles team at the tournament despite not playing doubles together in any match during the season.
Rosario spent the majority of the season as the Hawks number three singles player where she accumulated a 3-5 record (3-6 overall) but will play in the number two singles competition this weekend. Goldstein recorded a 3-3 mark playing multiple singles position during the season but has settled into the number three singles position for this tournament. The duo went 1-1 as a doubles team this year and will pair up to partake in the number three doubles competition.
The Larson sisters will remain in the singles position in which they have played all season with Amie at number four singles and Jen at number five. Amie had an 8-1 record at number four singles while Jen sported a 7-1 mark at number five singles (9-1 overall). They went 8-2 as the Hawks number two doubles team throughout the season and will retain that spot for this weekend’s event.
