New Paltz, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz women's tennis program has dominated the last three seasons, winning three consecutive SUNYAC championships and losing just three matches since the 2018-19 season.

Yet, even with the recent success of his program through the COVID-19 pandemic and the return of the most decorated senior class in the program's history, head coach Rob Bruley hasn't had that much time to sit and reflect on that success.

"At times, it's tough to sit back and reflect on such a great season," Bruley said. "No sooner had it finished, I was out recruiting for our next crop of players and putting together our practice plan for the next season. But the last three years have been very special for me, personally achieving three Coach of the Year awards, and more importantly, the team winning the conference and sweeping all conference awards."

The Hawks bring back a great decorated team, led by three-time SUNYAC Most Valuable Player and SUNYAC First-Team selection Trinity Chow, along with seniors Isabela De La Rocha, Alexandra Dratch and Alex Chimenti. The team is further boasted with last year's Rookie of the Year Tatiana Barnett and former SUNYAC Second-Team member (and former Rookie of the Year) Onalee Batcheller.
 

Along with the talented returning squad, the Hawks add two outstanding freshmen, Anya Barteck and Isabel van der Veen, to a program that is known for turning great young talented student-athletes into outstanding and competitive players by the end of their careers. Barteck will be challenged early, playing No. 2 singles and No. 1 doubles in her first season.

"These two freshmen know there is a lot of pressure coming onto such a successful program as this, but I know they can handle the daily grind of playing under pressure," Bruley said. "Our senior class has been amazing the way they have helped bed-in the freshmen and educate them in the way our tennis program works."

The 2021 season, which starts on Wednesday with a match at rival Oneonta, will provide old and new challenges for the program. Along with the pandemic still being a factor, SUNY New Paltz's fall portion of the schedule will mainly feature out-of-conference opponents on the road, a change from previous years when the program's SUNYAC schedule was played in September. In fact, the Hawks only have five home matches through the entire year and the only SUNYAC home match of the entire regular season is April 23 against the Red Dragons. Its fall schedule will also feature some of the top Division III tennis teams in the Northeast — including Union and Ramapo College in the New Paltz Scramble — a challenge that Bruley put on his team.

"I'm very excited to put out a challenge to the team to see if they can step up their game and compete with some of the best collegiate players in our region.," Bruley said. "This new format gives me more time to work on fitness, team tactics, and doubles drills. I will be making sure the team makes good use of the extra lead in time before we play the remainder of our conference matches."

Still, even with the added challenges of a new schedule and the everlasting pandemic, as the preseason comes to a close, the goal remains simple: win the SUNYAC championship again, secure the team's third consecutive berth in the NCAA Tournament, and make a run at the NCAA Division III championship after two early exits in their last two tries.

"I think our expectations going into this year, obviously that we're gonna get another SUNYAC conference championship," said van der Veen, "I think that we're all really excited about that aspect of this program is that we can win and we know that we should be winning. So coming onto a winning team, although it's a little bit intimidating, it's really nice to be able to keep that tradition of winning going.

"I think so far this year...we've really shown potential and being able to go far in the NCAA tournament and I'm really excited for that opportunity."

The Hawks have extra motivation for this year. The SUNYAC tournament in early May will be held at the highest seed's home courts for the first time in more than 30 years, where Burley hopes that the North Tennis Courts will be able to host and, with a championship win, hoist the trophy in New Paltz. Around the rest of the conference, there is motivation to knock the Hawks off before they could get there.

"We must not be complacent in any match," Bruley said. "Every SUNY program is after us and this is the mindset I have instilled in our program during preseason."

"​​I think that we have a really good team. We've recruited some really good players and I think we're going to do pretty well," Barteck said. "We are training really hard, putting in the hours, getting those court games, we've definitely set the bar high. We're motivated for a good year to come."

The Hawks' chase for their fourth straight title starts Wednesday on the road at Oneonta, starting at 3 p.m.

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