The State University of New York Athletic Conference announced its annual award winners Thursday with the SUNY New Paltz Hawks earning six different selections. First year Justine Stenejko was named SUNYAC Rookie of the Year as well as the Peter J. Cahill Most Valuable Player for 2023.

SUNY New Paltz coach Rob Bruley led the Hawks to a perfect 7-0 SUNYAC record and a 5-0, 5-0 sweep to the SUNYAC championship, was named SUNYAC Coach of the Year.

To view the full All SUNYAC team, click here.

Read more about each Hawk selected below:

---

Justine Stanejko (Lakeland, NY/Solvay HS)
First Team Singles/First Team Doubles/SUNYAC Doubles Team of the Year/SUNYAC Rookie of the Year/Peter J. Cahill MVP

Justine Stanejko had an immediate impact upon an already talented SUNY New Paltz tennis squad. The first-year player earned both the No. 1 singles spot but also the No. 1 doubles slot to help bring the SUNYAC title back to New Paltz. In regular season SUNYAC play, she was 7-0 in singles competition and 7-0 in doubles play partnering with Loretta Donovan. In the SUNYAC Tournament, she and Donovan won both their doubles matches and although her singles match was unfinished, she won two sets and was ahead when New Paltz clinched the team title by a 5-0 mark. She was named to the All-Tournament Team in both singles and doubles and was the tournament MVP. Stanejko was also named SUNYAC Player of the Week for both singles and doubles for the week of October 12, 2022.

Stanejko is the seventh Hawk to earn SUNYAC Rookie of the Year honors since the title was first awarded in 2016. She is the 12th New Paltz player to earn First Team honors as a first-year player. Last but not least, she is the second Hawk to win the Peter J. Cahill Award as a first-year player, following in the footsteps of four-time Cahill winner Trinity Chow (2018-2022).


Onalee Batcheller (Westhampton Beach, NY/Westhampton HS)
First Team Singles/Second Team Doubles

Onalee Batcheller's four years of experience and consistent leadership went a long way to the Hawks capturing their eighth SUNYAC title, their fourth since 2019. Previously Batcheller had earned First Team Singles and Doubles honors in 2022 and a Second Team Singles selection in 2019. She was named to the SUNYAC All-Tournament team in singles in 2019 and 2021 in doubles play in 2019, 2021 and 2023. In 2022 she was named as SUNYAC's Women's Tennis Scholar of the Year and is a four-time SUNYAC Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll selection.

For the 2022-23 season, Batcheller was twice named SUNYAC Player of the Week, once for her singles play and once for her doubles play. She posted a 7-0 SUNYAC regular season singles record and with four different partners was also 7-0 in conference doubles competition. For her career as a Hawk, Batcheller leaves with a 28-1 SUNYAC singles record and a 31-0 SUNYAC doubles record.


Loretta Donovan (Delmar, NY/Bethlehem Central HS)
First Team Doubles/Second Team Singles

Loretta Donovan earns her first, First Team SUNYAC selection in doubles and her second, Second Team SUNYAC pick for her singles play. With her partner Justine Stanejko, Donovan was 7-0 in SUNYAC doubles. Playing at either the number three or number four singles slot, she was also 7-0 in SUNYAC play. In the SUNYAC tournament, she and Stanejko won both their doubles matches and earned All-Tournament honors. In her three years as a Hawk, Donovan has a 16-1 SUNYAC singles record and is 21-2 in SUNYAC doubles play.








Amirah Alston (New York, NY/Promise Academy Charter School)
Second Team Singles/Second Team Doubles

Amirah Alston became the solid performer the Hawks needed in their quest for an eighth SUNYAC championship. For the season, she was 4-0 at the number four singles post and 2-1 in the number five singles slot in SUNYAC play. Teamed with Onalee Batcheller and Isabel van der Veen she was 4-0 in SUNYAC doubles play.










Tatiana Barnett (Port Washington, NY/St. Mary's HS)
Second Team Doubles

The 2021 SUNYAC Rookie of the Year added to her portfolio in 2023, winning the number two doubles slot in the SUNYAC Tournament with partner Onalee Batcheller, earning her a second selection to the All-Tournament team. Overall, Barnett's career record includes a 11-2 SUNYAC singles record and a 10-0 SUNYAC doubles mark.









Isabel van der Veen (Niskayuna, NY/Niskayuna HS)
Second Team Doubles

Isabel van der Veen was 4-0 in SUNYAC competition at the number three doubles position, partnering with Onalee Batcheller, Alex Chimenti, and Amirah Alston. Winning the number three doubles spot at the SUNYAC Tournament, she and partner Alex Chimenti were named to the All-Tournament team.

It was van der Veen's second selection to the all-tournament team, her first was in 2022 at the number four singles spot. She, along with Alex Chimenti, were named to the SUNYAC Player of the Wee-Doubles for April 10, 2023. For her career, van der Venn is 8-0 in SUYAC singles play and 12-1 in SUNYAC doubles competition.





Rob Bruley (SUNYAC Coach of the Year)
25 years, 251-125-1 (.666) overall, 125-28 (.817) SUNYAC

Rob Bruley, the dean of SUNYAC women's' tennis coaches with 25 years under his belt, was named SUNYAC Women's Tennis Coach of the Year for the fifth consecutive season, the ninth time overall he has earned this honor.

Each season, Bruley leads the Hawks through a challenging non-conference schedule which he uses to prepare his players for SUNYAC competition. And this has paid off. Apart from his first four years as coach, his teams have never had a losing SUNYAC dual match season and since 2019 have gone undefeated (33-0) in regular season play. 2023 was another banner year as the Hawks went 7-0 in conference play and rolled to the SUNYAC Championship with 5-0 wins over Geneseo and Oneonta. This earned New Paltz its eighth SUNYAC championship and its sixth trip to the NCAA DIII women's tennis tournament.

Bruley has a reputation for having a sharp eye for raw talent and for taking that young talent and developing it into championship form. 2023 saw him nurtured another first year player, Justine Stanejko, to numerous SUNYAC honors. He has developed 68 First Team All SUNYAC selections in both singles and doubles play, as well as 87 Second Team All SUNYAC players in both singles and doubles play. Eight of his players have been named Peter J. Cahill SUNYAC MVP, four have been named SUNYAC Rookie of the Year, and three four doubles teams have been named SUNYAC Doubles Team of the Year.

Outside the classroom, Bruley's players have consistently appeared on both the Hawks Academic Honor roll and the SUNYAC Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll. One of his players, Eri Yamakawa, was named an Arthurs Ashe, Jr. Scholar Athlete in 2006.

******************
To stay up to date with everything #NPHawks be sure to follow us on Twitter at @nphawks, Instagram and Facebook at @newpaltzhawks, and subscribe to our Youtube channel, New Paltz Hawks.