Women's Tennis

No. 2 Hunter Defeats Top-Seeded Pratt to Win Third Straight CUNYAC Women's Tennis Championship

BOX SCORE

FLUSHING, N.Y. - Second-seeded Hunter captured its third consecutive CUNY Athletic Conference Women's Tennis championship with a 4-2 victory over No. 1 Pratt Thursday afternoon at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

The Hawks (12-1) rallied after dropping the doubles point to hand the Cannoneers (9-1) their first loss of the season. Hunter also avenged a 4-3 regular-season defeat to Pratt on October 18.

Hunter senior Julia Aksamentova clinched the championship with a 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 victory over Sophia Schafler at No. 6 singles. Aksamentova was named the championship's Most Valuable Player for her performance, the second time in her career she earned Championship MVP honors.

Pratt took the early advantage by sweeping the two completed doubles matches. Judith Song and Olivia Tao defeated Sara Novo and Apollinariia Stepanenko 6-4 at No. 2, while Pallavi Verghese and Beatrice Crespo secured the opening point with a 6-4 victory over Isabella Tchij and Ana-maria Bichinashvili at the top flight.

Hunter responded in singles play, beginning with Stepanenko's 6-1, 6-3 victory over Crespo at the No. 2 position to even the match at 1-1. Verghese put Pratt back in front with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Tchij at No. 1 singles, but the Hawks answered with three consecutive victories to claim the championship.

Amber Lai tied the match at 2-2 with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Elva Yu at No. 5 singles. Novo followed with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Song at No. 3 to give Hunter its first lead of the afternoon before Aksamentova clinched the match.

With the victory, Hunter, which was making its eighth straight finals appearance, extended its CUNYAC record to 26 women's tennis championships. The Hawks also earned the conference's automatic berth into the 2027 NCAA Division III Women's Tennis Championship, which will take place in the spring.

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Championship MVP Jula Aksamentova (Hunter)

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