GENESEO, N.Y. - The Empire 8 announced its women's tennis All-Conference honors on Tuesday, Oct. 27 and SUNY Geneseo highlighted the awards with all six starters earning First and Second-Team honors. The Knights also picked up two major awards as Samantha Rava and Rachel Molloy earning Doubles Team of the Year recognition, and the coaching staff, led by head coach Alan Heverly, picked up Coaching Staff of the Year.

Molloy and Rava, named the E8 Doubles Team of the Year, finished 8-0 in league play and 13-0 overall at second doubles while also garnering All-E8 first team honors for the second straight season. The duo also earned All-Empire 8 first team honors individually in singles play. Joining the duo on First-Team for both singles and doubles were Natalie Pipes and JoAnn Catalano. Pipes and Catalano led the way at first doubles for Geneseo, finishing with a mark of 10-2 overall. Pipes, the Empire 8 Tournament MVP, was dominant at first singles throughout the season, finishing with a record of 11-2, while Rava went 11-1 at second singles. Molloy and Catalano went undefeated in singles play throughout the season, both finishing with records of 11-0 at third and fourth singles, respectively.

Heverly and assistant coach Riley Damerell was named 2026 Empire 8 Coaching Staff of the Year after leading Geneseo to its first Empire 8 Championship. The Knights dominated throughout the season, finishing 13-0 overall during the 2026 fall season, including a 8-0 mark in league play, before defeating Nazareth University and Alfred University in the Empire 8 Tournament to claim the title and earn an automatic berth into the NCAA Division III Women's Tennis Championship, which takes place in May, 2027. Six SUNY Geneseo student-athletes earned All-Empire 8 accolades in 2026, including four first teams singles and a pair of first team doubles spots. The Knights dropped just one game in 10 total matches against Empire 8 foes, regular season and postseason in 2026.

Lauren Levatino and Talia Wutz rounded out the Empire 8 All-Conference awards by picking up Second-Team honors in both doubles and singles. As a duo, they went 8-0 at third doubles during the season, and carried that success into singles play as they both posted a record of 12-0 at fifth and sixth singles, respectively.

One member of each team was named that institution's representative on the 2026 Women's Tennis Tomorrow's Leaders Team, and Rava earned that recognition for the Knights. This team honors a student-athlete who has emerged as a leader not only on the field of play, but in the classroom and in the community. In addition, they "compete with honor and integrity" and have distinguished themselves and consistently exhibit the critical traits as outstanding sportswomen.

Full press release from the Empire 8.