New Paltz, NY — As the State University of New York at New Paltz women's tennis coach Rob Bruley enters his 25th season, he will face the prospect of beginning the new season without the service of the Hawks' all-time tennis player, Trinity Chow.
 
After dominating SUNYAC women's tennis for the last four seasons, the first-ever four-time SUNYAC Peter J. Cahill MVP Award recipient has graduated, leaving a spot in the roster that will be hard to fill. Stepping into the leadership role immediately, however, will be lone senior and two-time All-SUNYAC selection, Onalee Batcheller.
 
"Being a senior now means that I need to step up and I'm really excited for the responsibility and the duties that come with that," said Batcheller who will captain the Hawks this season. "Filling in for Trinity and all the other seniors that came before me is going to be really tough, but I'm going to try my best and hopefully we can pull another win and I can hopefully lead the team to doing their best."
 
Yet for Bruley, he has faced similar circumstances before, and if history can repeat itself, he and his team will once again be among the top contenders for the SUNYAC Championship and an NCAA Tournament bid. The team, after winning three-straight titles from 2018-21, was upset last season as top-seeded SUNY New Paltz fell to second-seeded rival SUNY Oneonta.
 
Despite the loss of their No. 1 in Chow, the Hawks return Batcheller, and the bulk of their singles lineup in junior Loretta Donovan, graduate student Alex Chimenti and sophomores Anya Barteck and Isabel van der Veen. Second-year Amirah Alston will step in to fill the five and six spot, along with freshmen Lillian Nowak and Nina Genzone. Incoming freshman Justine Stanejko has impressed thus far during preseason and will vie for the top singles spot.
 
 
"[The SUNYAC Championship] was a very tough loss. We really wanted it and unfortunately, we couldn't pull through but this year we have a bunch of new people on the team who bring so much and I'm really excited to [continue] working on everything that we've been working on in our practices and just keeping the moral up," Batcheller said. "Team bonding is very important to us this year."
 
It was a relatively young team that went undefeated in SUNYAC play last season with a 7-0 record, and an overall mark of 12-5-1 in dual matches against top regional competition. Leading the way will be Batcheller (Westhampton Beach, NY) who was 6-0 in singles play last season. Donovan (Delmar, NY) and Barteck (New York, NY) also earned All-SUNYAC honors last season after impressive 6-1 records, respectively, in singles action against conference opposition.
 
As newcomers, Nowak (Chatham, NY), Genzone (Bellmore, NY) and Stanejko (Syracuse, NY) will add to the team's depth. Nowak helped lead her high school team to multiple Section II-Class C/D Championships, while Genzone and Stanejko bring solid high school and USTA U18 experience to the Hawks.
 
"Yes, we have a very small team, but that doesn't mean anything to us really," Batcheller said. "We have a very good team from first to sixth and first doubles to third doubles. I think we're all very well rounded and I'm excited to see what everyone does this year."
 
SUNY New Paltz opens its 2022-23 season Thursday against Cortland and Oneonta before competing in the Vassar Invitational Sept. 10-11 playing against some of the best eastern Division III teams. The Hawks begin their SUNYAC action away against the defending conference champion Red Dragons Sept. 14.

Preview Video Featuring Onalee Batcheller


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