SUNY New Paltz Women’s Tennis Aims to Fly High

NEW PALTZ, NY — Under Coach Bruley the SUNY New Paltz women’s tennis team has tallied a 43-12 record in the past four seasons. In that stretch the Hawks have won one State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) championship (2002), celebrated eight individual conference titles, and finished in second only to Cortland, in the SUNYAC, the last two years. In 2004 the Hawks finished 12-2 overall and seventh at the New York State Women’s Colligate Athletic Association (NYSWCAA) tournament, earning Coach Bruley his second Coach of the Year award in three years and Amanda Rosario (Bronx, NY) a conference title at number six singles.

For 2005 Coach Bruley expect much of the same. His team primary goal for this season is to win a SUNYAC Championship. Over the past two years the Hawks have improved their state ranking from 11 in 2003 to seventh in 2004. Coach Bruley believes his team can improve their state ranking into the top five. In order to accomplish this he has his team focused on two major contests. On September 18 the Hawks will take on defending SUNYAC Champion, Cortland. Then on October 5 they will compete against Vassar, who has been ranked as high as 20 in the nation in recent years. If they can defeat Cortland and play competitive tennis against Vassar than Coach Bruley feels that the Hawks should have no trouble gaining a top seed for the SUNYAC Tournament and obtaining a top five ranking in New York State.

All though the Hawks have only lost a couple players from last year, the contribution of those moving on was substantial. Along with Rosario, the Hawks will miss the experience of Kerry Farrell (Rockville Center, NY), a team mainstay for the past four seasons. Coach Bruley, however, has an optimistic confidence about his freshmen, who has shown a diligent work ethic, high standard of play and a strong commitment to the SUNY New Paltz tennis program. This fall the focus of the squad has been on conditioning and tactical play in both singles and double settings. Coach Bruley believes that if they can improve their strategy even a little, than this year’s team should have no trouble remaining unbeaten until the Vassar contest.

The SUNY New Paltz Women’s Tennis team will open this season on Saturday, September 3 against conference rivals Potsdam and Plattsburgh.