SUNY New Paltz Athletics

Season as Head Coach: 26th (including 2023-24)
Record at New Paltz: 263-135-1 (.659) 
SUNYAC Tournament Appearances: 23
SUNYAC Championships: 9 (2002, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023, 2024)
SUNYAC Coach of the Year: 10 (2002, 2004, 2006, 2010, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024)
NCAA Tournament Appearances: 7 (2007, 2008, 2011, 2019, 2021, 2023, 2024)

Head coach Rob Bruley has led the State University of New York at New Paltz women’s tennis program to unprecedented success as a dominant force in the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) since taking the reins in 1998. Bruley, who finished his 26th season in 2023-24, has created a winning tradition, leading the team to a 263-135-1 record over 26 seasons. Under his stewardship, the Hawks have finished first or second at the SUNYAC Championships for 22 consecutive years.

Bruley led the team to their second-straight SUNYAC Championship in 2024, and fifth in the last six years after earning the top seed in regular season conference play without losing a single SUNYAC Match. Justine Stanejko earned SUNYAC Tournament MVP honors, as well as being named as the Peter J. Cahill MVP for the second consecutive year. Bruley coached a total of six All-SUNYAC recipients and earned his 10th SUNYAC Coach of the Year honor after winning the league and making his seventh appearance in the NCAA Tournament. 

The team went 13-5 in 2022-2023, obtaining the No. 1 seed in SUNYAC Tournament. They would win the championship making it Bruley's eighth SUNYAC championship. Stanejko earned tournament MVP honors, while also earning All-Tournament team for both first doubles and singles play. After SUNYAC, they went on to beat St. Mary's College of Maryland and make it to the second round of the NCAA tournament. He coached six All-SUNYAC selections.

During the 2021-22 campaign, Bruley led the Hawks to a No. 1 seed in the SUNYAC Tournament with the program appearing in their 20th-straight finals appearance. Following the season, senior Trinity Chow was named to her fourth consecutive Peter J. Cahill SUNYAC MVP to become the first player in SUNYAC history to be a four-year honoree. Chow also earned her fourth-straight Doubles Team of the Year accolade, winning with partner Tatiana Barnett. 

The 2021 season culminated in another SUNYAC title (SUNY New Paltz's third straight conference championship) for the tennis program, with the Hawks finishing with a 7-1 record and making an NCAA Tournament appearance. Though the season ended on a disappointing note with a first round loss to Babson College, the Hawks had an exceptional campaign that saw them walk away with most of the SUNYAC Awards at season's end. Junior Trinity Chow was named Peter J. Cahill MVP for the third time in four years (2018, 2019, 2021), Chow and fellow junior Laura Koob were named Doubles Team of the Year, and freshman Tatiana Barnett was named Rookie of the Year. All three were named to the SUNYAC First Team. Bruley was named SUNYAC Coach of the Year for the seventh time in his 23 seasons.

The team's 9-1 finish in 2019-20 was preceded by a 2018-19 season that saw the Hawks turn out the all-time best record in program history, with Bruley leading his squad to their first undefeated regular season at 17-0, which included winning the SUNYAC Championship after a seven-year drought. The Hawks earned an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament with the conference title-winning performance and defeated Husson University in the first round of the big dance, ultimately ending its season in the second round against No. 19 nationally ranked MIT.

Over the past three seasons (2018-21), Bruley has coached nine All-SUNYAC 1st and 2nd team selections, including Chow and Rookies of the Year Koob (2018), Onalee Batcheller (2019), Barnett (2021). Chow and Koob won Doubles Team of the Year as freshmen in 2018 in addition to taking home that crown in 2021. Former Hawks Victoria Zezula, Lindsay Haley, Courtney Koran, Jenna Grandville and Emma Messenger also received conference recognition under Bruley in the last three seasons.

With Bruley at the helm, SUNY New Paltz has made six appearances in the NCAA Tournament (2007, 2008, 2011, 2019, 2021, 2023) and has won eight SUNYAC titles (2002, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023). Bruley has been named conference Coach of the Year each of the last three seasons in addition to winning the award in 2002, 2004, 2006, and 2010. He guided his team to three consecutive appearances in the New York State Women’s Collegiate Athletic Association (NYSWCAA) Tournament. 

Bruley has coached eight student-athletes that have won the Peter J. Cahill Award MVP (Dana Lim, 2008; Stephanie Schara, 2010; Montana Wilson, 2012; Paige Munroe, 2013, Olivia Ammirati, 2015, Carol Tyson, 2017, Chow, 2018, 2021, and Justine Stanejko, 2023), awarded annually to the SUNYAC's Player of the Year in women's tennis. Since 2003, 50 student-athletes have received season awards under Bruley. His student-athletes have also excelled in the classroom, as he has coached the SUNY Chancellor Scholar-Athlete four times in Paige Munroe (2012), Kerri Serkes (2007 and 2008) and Rebecca Sparacin (2003). Bruley also coached Jenna Grandville to Rookie of the Year honors (2017).

The Hawks have established themselves as one of the top tennis programs in the Northeast under Bruley’s watch. New Paltz consistently placed individuals and doubles teams into the semifinals and finals of the SUNYAC Tournament before the competition went to a team format in 2011-12, producing 21 singles and eight doubles champions.

From the beginning of his tenure as head coach, Bruley has developed a reputation for taking young, raw talent and producing talented tennis players by the ends of their careers. He has also shown he can turn a group of talented student-athletes into one of the most competitive and respected teams in the SUNYAC.

A native of England, Bruley was a standout athlete in soccer, squash and tennis. His time as an athlete and a coach at the international level includes five years with the Corinthian Casuals Soccer Club. He has also been the head men’s and women’s squash coach at Bard College and spends his summers coaching at the Lake Placid Soccer Center. 

Contact Rob Bruley at ext. 3931 or bruleyr@newpaltz.edu.