The State University of New York at New Paltz women's tennis team complete its home-and-home series against Catskill Cup rival SUNY Oneonta Sunday. If the Hawks earn the win, they'll sweep the series and guarantee the top seed in the SUNYAC Tournament.
 
When the two programs met on April 23 SUNY New Paltz won, 8-1, but the final score didn't indicate how close each individual match was. There were two tie breakers with only one match finishing 6-0, 6-0 — the Hawks' Alex Chimenti sweeping the Red Dragons' Amelia Wilson at sixth singles.
  "This match counts for our first seed. If we win we get the first seed, so that's our motivation to keep us going," said Hawks sophomore Onalee Batcheller.
 
SUNY New Paltz and Oneonta have met in the last two SUNYAC Championship matches with the Hawks winning both. The two programs are favored to see a third championship matchup this season, but they will need to get through the top two seeds of the SUNYAC West division.
 
"Onalee and I have been doubles partners for two years. This is our second year and last year we played Oneonta and they are our biggest rival right now," said Hawks junior Alexandra Dratch. "We played them in the championship round and our win is the most important… we got two wins for New Paltz and they had one, so we had got the extra point. This Sunday should be interesting. I am looking forward to it. I know all of the girls we're all really excited and we give our heart out on the court."
 
The Hawks haven't lost a game in the SUNYAC in four years and hope to continue that streak Sunday when the Red Dragons visit. Match is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. Both courts will be streamed and results will be updated live. For watch and live result links visit the women's tennis schedule on nphawks.com, here.

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