During the fall semester, the City University of New York Athletic Conference will look back at some of its historic fall championship teams, recognizing the rich tradition of athletic excellence by the league's 13 member institutions.
The 2006 Hunter Hawks women's tennis team is one of the greatest squads in the history of the City University of New York Athletic Conference in its respective sport.
Hunter entered the season as the six-time defending conference champion with an unblemished 35-0 record against league opposition dating back to the 2001 campaign. Already a successful program among the CUNYAC, the Hawks strived for more on a larger scale.
Hunter cruised through the Fall portion of its regular season, going a perfect 16-0 (8-0 CUNYAC) overall to capture its sixth consecutive regular season title. The Hawks boasted five First Team CUNYAC All-Stars (
Monica Calungcagin, Louise Hollander, Antigone Tzakis, Jane Nassisi, Sara El-Edlibi) , the CUNYAC Coach of the Year,
Mel Kerper, and the league's Player of the Year,
Evgeniya Kim.
The Hawks didn't drop a match in their first two rounds of the CUNYAC Women's Tennis Championship. In the quarterfinals, Hunter blanketed eighth-seeded City Tech, 8-0, while posting a 7-0 decision over fourth-seeded Brooklyn in the semifinals, setting up a final with second-seeded Baruch for a second straight year.
In the final, Hunter won all three doubles matches and five of six singles contests to defeat the Bearcats, 8-1.
Calungcagin was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player for a second consecutive campaign, as Hunter collected its seventh straight CUNYAC Championship and the conference's first-ever automatic bid to the NCAA Women's Tennis Championships.
Hunter played in three matches in the spring as a tune-up for the championship, collecting wins over Pace, Drew and Moravian.
Hunter entered the NCAA Championships as the No. 5 seed with an opening round contest against fourth-seeded Wilkes at Amherst College. The Hawks defeated the Colonels, 5-1, moving to 23-0 overall and becoming the first team in conference history to record a win in the national tournament.
The Hawks' historic campaign came to an end in the second round of the NCAA Championships against No. 23 nationally ranked TCNJ.
Monica Calungcagin - 2006 CUNYAC Women's Tennis Championship Most Valuable Player
To date, Hunter has won 22 CUNYAC Women's Tennis Champiosnships, most recently winning the conference title in 2019.
#CUNYAC Fall Throwback Series