The State University of New York at New Paltz tennis team had a tough test, going up against some nationally ranked competition at the Vassar Scramble Saturday and Sunday, but the experience and the success they saw at the tournament has the Hawks ready for their opening State University of New York Conference (SUNYAC) weekend against SUNY Cortland and Oswego State.
 
"At the Vassar Tournament the competition was very difficult," said SUNY New Paltz sophomore Courtney Koran. "The teams we saw hit with a lot of pace, a lot more than in our division. So, going into SUNYAC's we're probably be playing a lot different style than we were there."
 
Along with playing at Vassar against the Brewers, Connecticut College and New York University, the Hawks went on the road and played Rensselear Polytechnic Institute and hosted SUNY Oneonta, SUNY Cortland and Union College in a non-scoring doubles tournament Sept. 1. 
 
SUNY New Paltz has shown a lot of depth in the action its played in this year, especially with the addition of freshmen Trinity Chow and Laura Koob, as the latter had an impressive weekend at Vassar, claiming five singles victories and a doubles win with partner, Chow.
 
"We've gotten so many great new players," Koran said. "Trinity, Laura are great one and two and our bottom half of our lineup — five, six, four —[have had] very close matches while practicing, so just a lot of depth there that is looking to do well this season."
 
The depth will give the Hawks an edge as it enters conference play. They were just shy of claiming their fifth SUNYAC championship last season, but were bested by SUNY Geneseo for the seventh-straight year. SUNY New Paltz is eager to prove this season it is the best program in the conference.
 
"We're super excited to play our [conference] matches this year," Koran said. "Getting a little bit of a late start, but we have so many great new freshman, new faces on the team. Our lineup is really deep, just really excited to show what our team is all about."

Since the duel match between RPI was cut short due to rain before SUNY New Paltz could claim a win, the Hawks are technically still 0-0 on the schedule. They are looking forward to add a couple wins this weekend against a Cortland team that goes into the weekend 2-3 and Oswego State, which is 1-4.
 
"Going into our match this weekend I think we have a lot of confidence playing at Vassar with so much success, especially in our top half. Everyone is feeling really confident having that we played so well, better than we have in the past."
 
The Hawks are set to take on the Red Dragons Friday at the North Tennis Courts, starting at 3 p.m. and will face the Lakers Saturday at 1 p.m. 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.