Binghamton, N.Y. - Juniors Mai Hashimoto and Cat Crummey captured singles matches to provide the clinching points in a 5-0 win over Cortland in the semifinals of the SUNYAC championship. The win moves the Knights into the tournament finals, one win away from their fourth consecutive conference title.
"We defeated Cortland a week ago but that seemed to only give them more determination," said Coach Jim Chen. "They certainly came to play today and we had to raise our game to match—and we did."
Once again the Knights' doubles teams provided a strong start and a 3-0 lead. The duos of junior Marylen Santos/Hashimoto, senior Amanda Rosati/Crummey and senior Minxuan Yuan/sophomore Maggie Hale all captured their matches, leaving the team needing just two points out of the six singles matches. Geneseo has not dropped a doubles match in SUNYAC regular season or tournament play this season.
Hashimoto and Crummey were the first to win their respective singles matches, providing the final necessary points. Hashimoto raised her singles record to 15-1 and is 4-0 at number-five singles since moving up from number-six late in the season. She is also 4-0 with Santos at number-one doubles since the two were recently paired. Crummey moved to 14-3 on the season at number-two singles.
Geneseo moves on to face New Paltz Sunday morning at 10 a.m. for the SUNYAC championship. The Knights beat the Hawks in the regular season, 7-2. The two programs have combined to win the last eight conference titles, with Geneseo winning five and New Paltz three. With this year's matchup, they'll have met in the last four finals since the championship went to a team competition format, with the Knights winning the previous three. However the Hawks own the last SUNYAC team victory against the Knights in the last nine seasons, a 5-4 victory in 2012.
Geneseo 5, Cortland 0
Doubles
1) Santos/Hashimoto (G) def. Martinez/Grodotke 8-3
2) Rosati/Crummey (G) def. Kumbul/Groves 8-1
3) M. Yuan/Hale (G) def. Kopcienski/Fineman 8-6
Singles
1) Santos (G) vs. Martinez 5-5 (UF)
2) Crummey (G) def. Kopcienski 6-0, 6-0
3) Rosati (G) vs. Grodotzke 6-1, 5-2 (UF)
4) D. Yuan (G) vs. Kumbul 6-2, 2-1 (UF)
5) Hashimoto (G) def. Groves 6-0, 6-1
6) M. Yuan (G) vs. Fineman 6-0, 4-1 (UF)
