Welcome to the 38th Annual CUNY Athletic Conference / Hospital for Special Surgery Women’s Tennis Championship!
A special thanks in advance to Wilson, the official tennis ball of the CUNY Athletic Conference. We also would like to thank the Hospital for Special Surgery, our presenting sponsor of the CUNYAC Women’s Tennis Championship. The Hospital for Special Surgery, “Where the World Comes to Get Back in the Game.”
Our other corporate partners are instrumental to our success in serving the students of CUNY. They are: Healthfirst, the Official Wellness sponsor of the CUNY Athletic Conference; HomeTown Ticketing, the official ticketing provider of the CUNY Athletic Conference, and University Student Senate.
We would also like to extend a special thank you to John Jay College Director of Athletics Cat Alves and her staff for helping to facilitate this championship.
We hope that you attend our next championship: the 2022 Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Championships at Van Cortlandt Park on Sunday, October 30 at 9:30 AM. After that, there’s the 2022 Women’s Volleyball Championship at Baruch College on Friday, November 4. If you can’t make the match, the final will be broadcasted globally on Facebook Live.
Name Cl. Hometown / High School
Esther Benjamin So. Brooklyn, N.Y. / Flatbush Andrea Bossio Fr. Riverdale, N.Y. / Riverdale Kingsbridge Academy Alejandra Cardenas Fr. Williamsburg, N.Y. / Los Angeles (Colombia) Kelly Contreras So. New York City, N.Y. / Fiorello H. LaGuardia Ava Deguzman So. Long Beach, Calif. / Long Beach Poly Brianna Joy Augustin So. Port-A-Prince, Haiti / Preparatory Acad. for Writers Regina Kelley Jr. Mount Kisco, N.Y. / Home Schooled Keila Pagan Fr. Bronx, N.Y. / Astor Collegiate Stephanie Reyes Fr. Brooklyn, N.Y. / Fort Hamilton Erica Sheludenko So. Manorville, N.Y. / Eastport South Manor Stephanie Tapia Fr. Middle Village, N.Y. / Maspeth
NEW YORK, NY
Name Cl. Ht. Hometown / High School
Zaara Afida Jr. 5-2 New York, N.Y. / High School of Fashion Industries Angelina Catania So. 5-7 Delray Beach, Fla. / Atlantic Mia Chan Sr. 5-4 Atlanta, Ga. / Woodward Academy Anna Chapko Fr. 5-4 Brooklyn, N.Y. / Midwood High School Lily McAndrews Fr. 5-7 Carmel, Indiana / Carmel Lily O’Heir So. 5-7 Huntington, N.Y. / Huntington High School Marcia Postrygacz Jr. 5-3 Brooklyn, N.Y. / Falled Nefesh Academy Sevinch Rakhmatdinova Fr. 5-6 Brooklyn. NY / Fort Hamilton Nikhar Rathi Jr. 5-4 Queens, N.Y. / Benjamin N. Cardozo Samantha Salazar So. 5-3 Bronx, N.Y. / Manhattan Center Science and Math
FLUSHING, N.Y. – For the first time since 2016, the Baruch College Bearcats are the CUNYAC Women’s Tennis Champions, defeating arch rival Hunter, 5-2, at the iconic USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
In a rematch of the 2019 final, it was the top-seeded Bearcats (12-1) who came away with the victory, winning the conference championship for the seventh time in program history.
Baruch, coming off a 5-0 win over Brooklyn in the semifinals, found themselves trailing after doubles play, as the No. 2 seed Hawks (8-3) took two of three doubles contests. The Bearcats claimed No. 1 doubles, as the tandem of Ava Deguzman and Natalie Ibehaupt earned an 8-4 victory over the Hawks team of Zaara Afida and Liliko Chung.
However, Hunter, coming off a 5-0 victory over John Jay in the semifinals, claimed the next two doubles matches. In No. 3 doubles, the team of Lily O’Heir and Mia Chan was victorious over Regina Kelley and Erica Sheludenko with an 8-4 decision. The Hawks took a 2-1 lead into singles play following an 8-4 win at No. 2 doubles, led by Angelina Catania and Yana Rabkova.
At No. 1 singles, Deguzman, the CUNYAC Player of the Year, cruised to a 6-0, 6-0 win over CUNYAC All-Star Afida. With the win, Deguzman improved to 13-0 overall in singles matches this season. For her efforts throughout the championship, the freshman was tabbed the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
In No. 4 singles, Kelley, who entered the match unbeaten (3-0) at the No. 4 position, gave the Bearcats a 3-2 advantage fol lowing a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Chung. Esther Benjamin, a CUNYAC First Team All-Star, put Baruch one win away from the championship with her performance at No. 3 singles, defeating Rabkova in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2.
Sheludenko clinched the victory for the Bearcats, rallying from an opening set deficit to defeat Chan at No. 5 singles, 3-6, 6-0, 6-1.
With the victory Baruch earns the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Women’s Tennis Championship, set to be played in May.
School CUNYAC Pct. Overall Pct. Streak Hunter $ 5-0 1.000 11-0 1.000 W11 Baruch 4-1 .800 10-4 .714 W1 Brooklyn 3-2 .600 3-9 .250 L2 John Jay 2-3 .400 5-10 .333 L1 Lehman 1-4 .200 1-8 .111 L1 York 0-5 .000 0-4 .000 L4
Quarterfinals - Sunday, Oct. 23
#4 John Jay 5, #5 Lehman 2 Semifinals - Tuesday, Oct. 25
#1 Hunter 5, #4 John Jay 1
#2 Baruch 5, #3 Brooklyn 0 Championship - Thursday, Oct. 27 at USTA National Tennis Center - Flushing, N.Y. #1 Hunter vs. #2 Baruch - 3 p.m.
Player of the Year School Class
Ava Deguzman Baruch So.
Rookie of the Year School Class
Sevinch Rakhmatdinov Hunter Fr.
Coach of the Year School Class Alex Trezos Hunter
Sportsmanship Award School Class
Regina Kelley Baruch Jr.
Sportsmanship Team School Class
Sophia Kebadze Brooklyn Jr. Dakota Himaya John Jay So. Carolina Lopez Lehman Fr Nayelly Rojas York Jr.
First Team School Class
Esther Benjamin Baruch So.
Ava Deguzman Baruch So. Viola Avdyli Lehman So. Angelina Catania Hunter So. Sevinch Rakhmatdinov Hunter Fr. Sarina Moi John Jay Fr.
Second Team School Class
Veronika Tsiko Brooklyn Jr. Regina Kelley Baruch Jr. Dakota Himaya John Jay So. Anna Chapko Hunter Fr. Erica Shelundenko Baruch So. Saoirse Ebert Brooklyn So.
Year Champion Overall CUNYAC Score Runner-Up Head Coach
2021 Baruch 12-4 5-0 5-2 Baruch Gregory Wyzykowski
2019 Hunter 12-1 5-0 5-2 Baruch Alex Trezos
2018 Brooklyn 16-4 6-0 5-1 Hunter David Wallis
2017 John Jay 11-4 4-2 5-4 Brooklyn Juan Andrade
2016 Baruch 11-6 6-0 5-2 Lehman Florin Giuglescu
2015 Baruch 14-2 6-0 5-0 Hunter Florin Giuglescu
2014 Staten Island 11-3 5-1 5-4 Hunter Arthur Velnik
2013 Staten Island 15-2 7-0 5-4 Brooklyn Paul Ricciardi
2012 Hunter 12-3 7-1 5-1 Staten Island Frances Ferdinand
2011 Hunter 11-6 7-1 5-1 Brooklyn David Eddy
2010 Hunter 17-9 9-0 5-0 Baruch David Eddy
2009 Hunter 13-3 9-0 5-4 Baruch David Eddy
2008 Hunter 14-8 8-0 5-0 Baruch Mel Kerper
2007 Hunter 20-2 8-0 9-0 Baruch Mel Kerper
2006 Hunter 23-1 8-0 8-1 Baruch Mel Kerper
2005 Hunter 17-1 7-0 8-1 Baruch Mel Kerper
2004 Hunter 13-4 7-0 5-4 John Jay Jocelyn Cruz
Year Champion Overall CUNYAC Pts. (Margin) Runner-Up Head Coach
2003 Hunter 8-6 7-0 49 (14) John Jay Jocelyn Cruz
2002 Hunter 7-7 7-0 46 (3) Brooklyn Jocelyn Cruz
2001 Hunter 8-6 7-0 51 (10) Staten Island Jocelyn Cruz
2000 Hunter 6-9 6-1 48 (3) Staten Island Jocelyn Cruz
1999 Staten Island 8-3 4-1 41 (2) Hunter Bruce Knittle
1998 Staten Island 8-2 5-0 44 (11) Hunter Bruce Knittle
1997 Baruch 7-6 3-2 21.5 (6) Hunter Florin Giuglescu
1996 Hunter 7-7 3-2 15 (0.5) Staten Island Matt Burcaw
1995 Hunter 6-6 2-2 9 (1) Staten Island Matt Burcaw
1994 Hunter 7-6 2-2 23 (13) Staten Island Matt Burcaw
1993 Hunter 7-6 4-0
1992 Hunter 6-7 3-1
1991 Hunter 11-4 3-0
1990 Hunter 7-7 3-0
1989 Baruch 11-3
1988 Baruch 13-1
1987 Staten Island 7-3
1986 Hunter 10-3
1985 Baruch 8-5
(13) Staten Island Matt Burcaw
(7) Baruch Matt Burcaw
(4) Baruch Matt Burcaw
Baruch Matt Burcaw
John Jay
Bill
Brian Donlan
Casilda Diaz
Hunter
