BOSTON, Mass. – The 2015 America East Women’s Tennis Championship is set to begin on Friday, April 24^th at noon.  The event will be held on the campus of Binghamton University, at the Binghamton Tennis Center.

Albany Great Danes (11-8, 2-1 America East)

• Albany will enter the 2015 Championship as the No. 3 seed.
• Albany is looking to win their first America East title, and advance to the championship like in 2013.
• The Great Danes will rely on senior Kirsten Scott, who named an America East First Team member back in 2013.
• Sophomore Alba Sala finished the year with the most singles victories for the Great Danes, registering ten in total.  The most successful doubles duo for Albany was that of senior Cheryl Kukkenen and Sala, who combined to win 11 doubles matchups; each had fourteen overall.

Binghamton Bearcats (8-9, 1-3 America East)

• The Binghamton Bearcats enter the America East Championship as the No. 4 seed.
• Binghamton reached the America East Championship for four consecutive years through 2008-2011, but was unable to win the title.  They have not returned to the championship match since.
• This is the first time that the championship tournament is being held in Vestal, N.Y. at the Binghamton Tennis center.
• Senior Alexis Tashiro lead the Bearcats and junior Sara Kohtz, who were both named to the America East First Team last year.
• The Bearcats top two singles players this year are Katya Medianik and Kohtz, each having on 10 singles matches.  In doubles, Medianik led to team being part of nine wins.

Hartford Hawks (7-14, 0-2 America East)

• The Hartford Hawks will enter the championship as the No. 6 seed, the second consecutive year they will play beside that ranking.
• The Hartford Hawks will be looking to advance to the tournament semifinals for the first time since 2001.
• The Hawks have no seniors on their class, but their upperclassmen trio of Hannah Goldman, Angela Rubino and Gianna Sabino will look to carry the Hawks in the championship.
• Skyler Schaar, who registered eight wins on the season, led the Hawks singles efforts.  In doubles, Schaar and Katie Long picked up seven wins as a tandem throughout the spring.

UMBC Retrievers (5-13, 3-1 America East)

• The UMBC Retrievers enter the championship as the No. 2 seed, their highest position since 2012.
• The Retrievers last reached the America East Championship match in 2012 as the No. 2 seed before falling to the Stony Brook Seawolves.
• Junior Shannon Cleary returns as a reigning America East First Team selection from last season.
• UMBC’s best conference performer throughout the year was Mariami Dolashvili; the sophomore went 4-0 in America East singles matches.  She won two doubles matches in conference being paired with Shannon Cleary.  The partnership of Isabel Aldunate and Medlena Kurasz also won two doubles matches against America East Conference opponents.

NJIT Highlanders (3-16, 0-4 America East)

• NJIT enters this 2015 championship as the No. 5 seed.
• ·This is the second year that NJIT has been an associate member of the America East for women’s tennis.
• The Highlanders reached the championship match last year as the No. 3 seed, but got swept by the Stony Brook Seawolves.
• The Highlanders main victor in singles matches was Nathalie Habegger, who won eight of them on the year.
• The leading doubles duo for NJIT was that of Caroline Zanotta and Nathalie Habegger, who combined won six on the year.

Stony Brook Seawolves (13-1, 5-0 America East)

• Stony Brook enters the tournament as the No. 1 seed for the third consecutive year.
• The Seawolves are the three-time defending America East Champions, having swept the championship since the departure of Boston University from the conference.
• Senior Polina Movchan returns as the reigning America East Player of the Year; she has been a First-Team selection throughout her first three years at Stony Brook, including being named Rookie of the Year in 2012.
• Other notable returners include senior Cassandra Dix, a First-Team member last year in addition to being named the Scholar Athlete of 2014, and sophomore Nadia Smergut, who was named the Rookie of the Year last season.
• Stony Brook was the only team in the conference to complete its league season with an unblemished record.

Championship Schedule

First Round: Friday, April 24th

12:00 P.M     No. 4 Binghamton vs. No. 5 NJIT
2:00 P.M.      No. 3 Albany vs. No. 6 Hartford

Second Round: Saturday, April 25th

10:00 A.M.    No. 1 Stony Brook vs. Binghamton/NJIT
2:00 P.M.      No. 2 UMBC vs. Albany/Hartford

Championship: Sunday, April 26th

12:00 P.M.    TBA vs. TBA