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Berkeley College women's tennis team puts exclamation point on successful 2015 by downing Pratt Institute 9-0 to claim program's first HVIAC title

Berkeley College women's tennis team puts exclamation point on successful 2015 by downing Pratt Institute 9-0 to claim program's first HVIAC title
Posted: Oct 31, 2015

The Berkeley College women's tennis team (8-1) capped its phenomenal 2015 campaign by capturing a Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship, defeating the four-time defending champion Cannoneers of Pratt Institute (3-8) by a score of 9-0 on Saturday afternoon in a match played at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, NY.

The Knights – who earned the No. 1 seed in the tournament by going an unblemished 3-0 in conference play during the regular season – anointed themselves champions in just their second year of existence. The fact that they did it against the institution that has set the bar so high over the past four seasons is something Berkeley College Head Coach David Eddy takes a tremendous amount of pride in.

"The student-athletes that this team was composed of did a fantastic job of dedicating themselves and improving their skills as the season progressed," Eddy said. "Their confidence was truly on display today, and they were very business-like in their approach. I could not be more proud of all of the success the team has enjoyed this season – winning eight out of nine matches and reaching the top of the conference mountain. Today is a great day for this young program."

Berkeley dominated Pratt Institute on Saturday afternoon, winning all three doubles flights and then capturing all six singles match-ups. In doubles play, the Knights' combination of Ceren Aksoy and Maria Avila defeated Pratt's Melanie Kania and Neeka Gilardian by a score of 8-3 at No. 1. The No. 2 flight featured Berkeley's duo of Victoria Mikalsen-Sandstad and Alessandra Lippolis silencing the Cannoneers' team of Sude Rencber and Yeh-Eun Heo by a score of 8-0. Finally – at No. 3 flight doubles, the Knights' Kate Gorshunova and Susan Wong downed Pratt's Nicole Hetzel and Cailyn Culp, 8-1.

In singles competition, Aksoy handled Kania at the No. 1 flight, claiming a 10-2 victory there. At No. 2 singles, Avila defeated Gilardian 10-2, and it was Gorushnova downing Rencber, 10-1 at No.3 singles. At the No. 4 flight, Mikalsen-Sandstad turned back Heo, 10-1, and Lippolis shutout Hetzel, 10-0 at the No. 5 flight. Finally, at No. 6 singles, it was Wong downing Culp, 10-0.

The Knights will enjoy this well-deserved title tonight and into the offseason, and will look to make a run at back-to-back conference titles in 2016!