BINGHAMTON, N.Y. - The SUNY Geneseo women's tennis team captured the SUNYAC Championship for the fifth straight year with a 5-0 win over New Paltz in Sunday's tournament final. After the Knights took a 3-0 lead by sweeping the opening doubles matches, first-year Mako Tanaka (number-one) and Lauren Salzano (number-five) claimed straight-set wins in singles to provide the winning margin. Geneseo finishes its fall slate of matches with a record of 11-0.
The Geneseo doubles teams of Cat Crummey/Marylen Santos, Tanaka/Mai Hashimoto and Salzano/Maggie Hale once again opened the match with wins. The Knights are undefeated in doubles in team-match play this season.
The win was Geneseo's 31st consecutive victory against SUNYAC opponents. Its last defeat was in fall 2012, when New Paltz took a 5-4 win. Prior to that loss, the Knights had captured 42 straight matches against conference foes, giving Geneseo 73 wins in its last 74 matches against SUNYAC teams dating back to the 2006 season.
Geneseo and New Paltz are familiar foes at the conference tournament, having met in the last five SUNYAC title matches. In the last 10 seasons, the Knights have captured seven titles and New Paltz three. The Hawks have been the runner-up in each of Geneseo title seasons, with Geneseo the second-place team in all of New Paltz's championship years.
It was the first title for first-year coach Jason Stephens. Geneseo's total of nine conference titles trails only Binghamton's 12, captured before the program moved to Division I. The SUNYAC champion receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament in the spring of 2016.
Geneseo 5, New Paltz 0
#1 Doubles:
Santos/Crummey (G) def. Carol Tyson/Brittany Grandville 8-1
#2 Doubles:
Tanaka/Hashimoto (G) def. Olivia Ammirati/Laura Tierney 8-0
#3 Doubles:
Hale/Salzano (G) def. Liz Palmer/Maryann Badura 8-4
#1 Singles:
Tanaka (G) def. Ammirati 6-4, 6-2
#2 Singles:
Crummey (G) vs. Grandville 6-1, 3-2 (unfinished)
#3 Singles:
Santos (G) vs. Tyson 6-0, 2-5 (unfinished)
#4 Singles
Hashimoto (G) def. Tierney 6-0, 2-1 (unfinished)
#5 Singles
Salzano (G) def. Emi Lewis 6-1, 6-2
#6 Singles
Hale (G) vs. Palmer 6-4, 5-1 (unfinished)
