Box Score Binghamton, NY — For seven-straight seasons the State University of New York at New Paltz tennis team came up one game short of carrying the State University of New York Athletic (SUNYAC) championship trophy back home. Sunday, the Hawks made sure to take the hardware with them, defeating No. 2 seeded SUNY Oneonta to clinch the program's fifth ever conference title.
 
"I am on a real high. It's been a long seven years," said SUNY New Paltz coach Rob Bruley. "I've had the lows of seven years and I am very, very happy because again, these student-athletes put so much work into this." 
 
Doubles play had plagued the Hawks the past seven season's in the conference championship game, but Sunday their first singles duo of Trinity Chow and Laura Koob started the afternoon with an 8-3 win over Alyssa Brault and Julieta Eulau. Second and third doubles were both tight matches, each going into a tiebreaker.
 
Victoria Zezula and Lindsay Haley fought back-and-forth against Olivia Fraser and Mya Lipscomb in second doubles, but with the match tied at 4-4, the duo started gaining momentum and pulled away for the eventual, 9-8 victory.
 
"It was crazy close," Bruley said. "The relief of the team when we won that, but then we had to go over to third doubles where they were experiencing the same thing and unfortunately it was the reverse there. Again, you couldn't get any closer. It was a real close match up."
 
Although Courtney Koran and Emma Messenger couldn't earn the win in third doubles, falling 9-8, the two wins heading into singles matches were key for the Hawks.
 
"I knew it was going to be tough," Bruley said. "If we could get out of the doubles with some kind of points, we are a very strong singles team and certainly did take a bit of pressure off of us, because it meant Oneonta had to win four of the six matches, and we only had to win three. I knew if we stuck to our game plan we would be in good shape and it turned out that way."
 
And SUNY New Paltz continued sticking to the game plan. The Red Dragons simply couldn't match up with the Hawks' depth, specifically at the bottom of their lineup.
 
Laura Koob earned a second singles victory, defeating Alyssa Brault handily, 6-1, 6-1. Koran then got the job done at fifth singles, beating Alexandra Dratch, 6-2, 6-1. Fittingly, it was left to SUNY New Paltz's lone senior Lindsay Haley to close out the win.
 
Haley swept the Red Dragons' Madeline Carswell, 6-0 in the first set and then fought to a 7-5 game-deciding victory to finish off a 5-1 SUNYAC Championship victory.
 
"At times this tennis is all about how strong you are at the bottom and again we had two players in Lindsay and Courtney that are pushing undefeated seasons and they are brining home the point," Bruley said. "It instills confidence in the team when you get two steady players at the bottom there, continually winning and continually bringing home the foundation of the team."
 
The Hawks end the season undefeated at 9-0, while SUNY Oneonta finishes with a 14-2 mark — their only two losses coming against 2018 SUNYAC champion SUNY New Paltz. 
 
Haley was named tournament MVP following her spectacular weekend, while fellow Hawks Koran (fifth singles), Jenna Grandville (fourth singles), Victoria Zezula (third singles) and Koob (second singles) all made the All-Tournament team, along with second doubles pair Zezula and Haley, and first-doubles pair Chow and Koob.
 
"[Haley] got MVP deservedly so. She has had a fantastic four years and to cap it off like that it was well deserved. It couldn't have gone to a better student athlete," Bruley said. "We expect a lot from them and this group they've really produced. They've been walking around with a bullseye on them. They're ranked one it is not easy. They've lived in the pressure cooker and trust me, today was a pressure cooker and they've really come out on top. I can't express how excited I am for them and our program."

To stay up to date with everything #NPHawks be sure to follow on Twitter at @nphawks, Instagram and Facebook at @newpaltzhawks, and subscribe to our Youtube channel, New Paltz Hawks.