The State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) announced its annual women's tennis award winners with the SUNY New Paltz Hawks dominating the first team selections in both the doubles and singles play categories. This is the first time that seven Hawks have earned All-SUNYAC honors.
 
Junior Justine Stanejko earned her third consecutive Peter J. Cahill Award as the conference's
Most Valuable Player. Stanejko and partner Isabel van der Veen were named the SUNYAC
Doubles Team of the Year, which was Stanejko's third selection for this honor. 27-year Coach Rob Bruley earned his seventh straight SUNYAC Coach of the Year Award, bringing his career total to 11.
 
To view the full All SUNYAC team, click here.
 
Read more about each Hawk selected below:

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Justine Stanejko (junior, Lakeland, NY/Solvay HS)

SUNYAC Peter J. Cahill Most Valuable Player/SUNYAC Doubles Team of the Year/SUNYAC
First Team Singles/SUNYAC First Team Doubles
 
How much better can Justine Stanejko get? If her performances in 2024-25 are any indication, she has yet to reach her peak as she continues to grow as a competitor. Picking up where she left off in her first two seasons as a Hawk, Stanejko dominated her SUNYAC opponents, posting a 4-0 No 1 singles record without conceding a point and a 5-0 No. 1 doubles mark with partner Isabel van der Veen, conceding only two points. She has never lost a SUNYAC match in either singles or doubles play. She breezed through the SUNYAC Tournament, winning both the No. 1 singles title and the No. 1 doubles title with van der Veen. Over the course of the fall SUNYAC season, Stanejko was named SUNYAC Singles Player of the Week once and Doubles Player of the Week twice.
 






Isabel van der Veen (senior, Niskayuna, NY/Niskayuna HS)

SUNYAC First Team Singles/SUNYAC First Team Doubles/SUNYAC Doubles Team of theYear
 
Senior Isabel van der Veen caps off her illustrious career with her second selection to the All-SUNYAC Single First Team, her third time named to the All-SUNYAC Doubles Team and, with partner Justine Stanejko, All-SUNYAC Doubles Team of the Year.

She was named to the SUNYAC All-Tournament Team — Doubles — all four years. She is also a three-time SUNYAC All-Tournament pick in single play. With a 5-0 SUNYAC singles record, she allowed only four points.  Also undefeated in doubles play, she and Stanejko conceded only two points in five matches.  In the SUNYAC Tournament, she gave up a single point in winning the third flight singles title. Van der Veen was named SUNYAC Doubles Team of the Week twice this season. For her career, van der Veen posted a 17-0 SUNYAC singles mark with a 23-1 SUNYAC doubles record.






Amirah Alston (senior, New York, NY/Promise Academy 1)
SUNYAC First Team Singles
 
Amirah Alston grew each year as a tennis player under the tutelage of Coach Rob Bruley and followed up an outstanding junior season with an even better senior one.
 
She impressed enough as a sophomore and junior to earn SUNYAC Second Team honors in singles; this year she elevated her standing to being named a SUNYAC First Team Singles pick.  She also is a two-time All-SUNYAC Doubles pick. She was undefeated in SUNYAC singles play this season, upping her career record to 16-3. She also has a 5-1 SUNYAC doubles career mark. In the SUNYAC Tournament, competing at fourth singles, she won her flight, conceding just one point in two tournament matches.  










Sydney Sladicka (freshman, Marlboro, NY/Marlboro HS)
SUNYAC First Team Singles/SUNYAC First Team Doubles
 
The step from dominating Section IX tennis to doing the same at the collegiate level did not seem to faze Sydney Sladicka. Easily flowing into the college game, Sladicka has earned SUNYAC First Team honors in both singles and doubles play, becoming SUNYAC Tournament Champion in both the second flight singles and second flight doubles with partner Angelica Gabriel. Sladicka was 5-0 in SUNYAC singles play and 5-0 in doubles play.
 
In 10 SUNYAC games, she conceded nine points and gave up five points in winning the SUNYAC Tournament second singles flight. With her doubles partner Gabriel, they conceded two points in ten matches and just two points in five matches and no points winning the SUNYAC 2nd flight doubles championship.  She landed on the SUNYAC All-Tournament Team for both singles and doubles.
 






Olivia Kunz (sophomore, New York, NY/Fiorello H. LaGuardia HS)
SUNYAC First Team-Singles /SUNYAC First Team Doubles
 
Olivia Kunz used the experiences of her first year of collegiate play to make the jump to an important contributor to the Hawk Tennis dynasty.  Kunz was 4-0 in fifth flight singles, conceding seven points in four matches. Teaming with Angelica Genzone at 3rd flight doubles, they went 4-0 in regular season conference play and did not concede a point in winning third doubles in the SUNYAC Tournament.
 
In recognition of her growth and efforts, she earned SUNYAC First Team honors in both fifth singles and third doubles. She and Genzone were named to the SUNYAC All-Tournament Team and Kunz' great play in the tournament landed her as the 2025 SUNYAC
Tournament Most Valuable Player. Kunz also earned SUNYAC one each SUNYAC Singles and Doubles Player of the Week honors in 2024-25. Her SUNYAC career record now stands at 7-1 in singles action and 4-0 in doubles play.
 





Angelica Gabriel (freshman/Liverpool, NY/Liverpool HS)
SUNYAC First Team Singles/SUNYAC First Team Doubles
 
Angelica Gabriel started her collegiate tennis career in fine form, landing a spot on the SUNYAC First Team in both singles and doubles play. 

In SUNYAC singles play she posted a 4-0 record; partnering with Sydney Sladicka at 2nd doubles, they achieved a 5-0 mark.  In the SUNYAC Tournament, Gabriel went 2-0 in 6th singles and with Sladicka did not concede a point in winning the seccond doubles title. She was named to the SUNYAC All Tournament Team with Sladicka at second doubles.













Nina Genzone (junior/Bellmore, NY/Sanford H. Calhoun HS)
SUNYAC First Team Doubles
 
Nina Genzone earns her first All-SUNYAC honor, selected to the SUNYC First Team Doubles. Genzone partnered once Isabel van der Veen and then with steady partner Olivia Kunz to post a perfect 5-0 doubles record.
 
In the SUNYAC Tournament, Genzone and Kunz won the third flight doubles, not conceding a single point in match play, earning them both a place on the SUNYAC All-Tournament Team. She earned one SUNYAC Doubles Player of the Week honor in 2024-25. Her career record in SUNYAC doubles play stands at 13-2 and she also posts a 3-0 SUNYAC career singles mark.











Rob Bruley (27th season, 137-28 SUNYAC/174-140 overall)
SUNYAC Coach of the Year
 
Rob Bruley knows tennis and he knows how to develop tennis champions. He does not overload his roster just to have numbers; his rosters are small, and he is able to devote his time to teaching those few players how to grow as players and into champions. His record is a testament to his dedication and expertise. His selection, again, as SUNYAC Coach of the Year, speaks to the quality of his mission.
 
Bruley has mentored 77 First Team All-SUNYAC selections in both singles and doubles play and over 90 Second Team All SUNYAC players in singles and doubles play. Eight of his player including current player Justine Stanejko, have been named SUNYAC Peter J. Cahill Most Valuable Player, with Trinity Chow '22 being named four times.  Four players have earned SUNYAC Rookie of the Year honors and five New Paltz doubles teams have been named SUNYAC Doubles Team of the Year.
 
In his 27th season at New Paltz (he is the longest serving coach at the university), Bruley has earned 11 SUNYAC Coach of the Year honors, more than any other SUNYAC coach; the closest being former Binghamton coach Curtis Coutts with seven.  Bruley's 10 SUNYAC Championship titles are second only to Coutts total of 11, won during the mid-1980s-mid 1990's. His 13 second place finishes are the most ever in SUNYAC women's tennis. With this season's SUNYAC title, Bruley will lead the Hawks to their fourth straight NCAA DIII Tournament, their eight overall, all under his tenure.  Under his guidance, the Hawks have been untouchable in SUNYAC dual match play, going 45-0 over the past seven seasons.  2024-25 set a new mark in dual match play:  the Hawks never conceded a game, going 35-0.
 
Outside the tennis courts, Bruley's players have shined in the classroom; Hawk players consistently appear on the annual SUNYAC Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll.  Two of his players have earned additional recognition in the postseason; in 2022 Onalee Batcheler was named the SUNYAC Tennis Scholar Athlete of the Year and in 2006 Eri Yamakawa was named an Arthur Ashe, Jr. Scholar Athlete.
 
 
 
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