New Paltz, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz women's tennis team hosted the New Paltz Scramble, its first ever scramble on the North Tennis Courts, on Saturday to conclude the fall season.

Going up against Union and Ramapo, the latter in their season opener, the scramble introduced new challenges to many SUNY New Paltz' student-athletes, and they handled them well, winning 11 of 19 singles matches and six of eight doubles matches to finish 17-10 for the day. As a group, the Hawks went 5-11 against the Dutchmen, and a flawless 12-0 against the young Roadrunners.

Freshman Isabel van der Veen, nursing a knee injury, was unable to play, but came to support her teammates.

Sophomore Tatiana Barnett impressed the most, as she won both of her singles matches against Ramapo's Roshay Baez and Union's Dana D'Onofrio in dominating fashion, 8-0 and 8-2, respectively. She, along with doubles partner, sophomore Loretta Donovan, also won both doubles matches, 8-0 against the Roadrunners' Mackenzie Dates and Kassie Britt and a tougher 8-4 victory versus the Dutchmen's Hallie and Rayna Katzman.
 

"I think I played really well today," said Barnett. "It was definitely a tougher match against Union. I was really excited to play a bit of a better team with more of a challenge...I always think I could have played better. I am a bit tough on myself, but I think I played pretty well." 

Junior Onalee Batcheller was the next to complete action, winning her round one match against Ramapo's Melanie Colon-Leon in a quick sweep, 8-0. In a difficult battle in round three, facing Union's Sophie Brown, she took an 8-4 loss. Freshman Heavenly White took her first collegiate win in her first round matchup against Ramapo's Mina Erik, 8-4, but lost her next matchup against Kate Hirnak 8-2. Donovan was handed an 8-3 loss against the Dutchwomens' Gabby Gatto, 8-3, but rebound with an 8-0 victory against Dates. Isabela Del La Rocha took an 8-1 loss to the Dutchwomens' Lichuan Xiong, but swept Ramapo's Justine Gardella 8-0 in round three. 

Senior Alex Chimenti, who only played her first round singles match, lost to the Dutchmen Hallie Katzman 8-2. Meanwhile, senior Alexandra Dratch, in her first singles play action since the 2019 season, defeated Britt 8-1.

"[Union and Ramapo] are very good schools," Dratch said. "It was tough today because I usually don't play singles and I got to play singles today. I also got to play doubles with [Donovan]. Honestly, we've been partners for three years now."

Senior Trinity Chow and Union's Gracie Nicol battled for a long while on the first court to start their respective days. Chow had a 7-4 advantage before fatigue began to set in, losing the next two set points. She avoided the 7-7 tiebreaker and won 8-6 after her match point serve was returned wide right by Nicol. After the long round one match, Chow made her second round match quick with an 8-0 sweep of Ramapo's Melanie Brentnall.

In her first ever competitive collegiate experience after sitting out the first five matches, freshman Amirah Alston battled hard in a tough 8-3 loss against the Dutchmen's Rayna Katzman. She would go on to defeat Millie Block in round two action 8-2 for her first singles collegiate victory.

"Unfortunately, she had a lot of trouble getting cleared medically and whatever issues," said SUNY New Paltz coach Rob Bruley on Alston. "She's a player that we're bringing in, she's just getting used to this level of tennis. It just shows you how deep we are when we've got someone like that that hasn't played, and we put her into a couple of matches and she does well...so I was happy for her.

"It's tough because she's out to hit the ground running, but it shows the depth of this program."

Freshman Anya Barteck attempted a comeback in her first matchup of the day against Union's Marilena Karadimou, but couldn't force a tiebreaker as she lost 8-6. She rebounded with an 8-0 victory against the Roadrunners Marina Kaifas in round 3 that concluded singles play.

After Donovan and Barrett's 8-0 victory for the first result of round one of doubles, White and Del La Rocha took an 8-4 win against Gardella and Erik. White's played her second doubles match with Alston against Hirnak and Xiong, with the Dutchwoman duo winning 8-4. Chow and Barteck had a huge 8-5 victory against Brown and D'Onofrio in their round one match, then defeated Brentmall and Kaifas in round two, 8-1.

Batcheller and Dratch had a 7-6 lead on their round two matchup, Karadimou and Nicol, but dropped the next set and the resulting tiebreaker, losing 8-7 (7-5). They finished the day with an 8-1 victory over Colon-Leon and Baez.

De La Rocha and White paired up again in Round 3 play, losing to Gatto and Paige Tromblee 8-1 to finish an eventful day and the Hawks' fall season.

"It was definitely bittersweet because I'm a senior," Dratch said. "We have a lot of recruits here today, so it was really nice to be able to talk to a lot of them, give them insight of what the season looks like, the team looks like. It's a little sad because today was my last game for the fall, but we're going to prepare for the spring season, and I'm really looking forward to the competition and what it has to bring."

"I see a lot of improvement in our doubles play exceptionally, and this is where I wanted us to be, when we came in in August," added Bruley. "We played some very tough opposition throughout the fall, and we've improved with every game. It's been a tough learn where they've had to take some heavy losses, but I have seen so much improvement, and I'm so excited for when we start back up in February. This is exactly where I wanted us to be."

As with the Vassar Scramble and the ITA regionals, there was no team scoring throughout the tournament.

SUNY New Paltz (2-2) will now look forward to the four month offseason, where a return to play on March 15, 2022 in Florida for Spring Break awaits. They will play three matches in the sunshine state before their first SUNYAC action since Oswego State on April 9. 

Post-Match Interview with Alexandra Dratch & Tatiana Barnett

----------------------------------------