Hunter Takes CUNY Title Back From CSI

Hunter College won five individual finals Saturday in the CUNY Athletic Conference / Hospital For Special Surgery Women's Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center to claim the 2000 title. With finalists in eight for the nine flights, the Hawks beat the two-time defending champs, the College of Staten Island by mere three points (48-45) to capture the school's 8th overall title, and their first in four seasons.

"After losing to CSI two years in a row, this is a definite step forward for us," said Hunter head coach Jocelyn Cruz. "This year's team plays with more inspiration than previous teams. There's more cohesiveness out there. These players practice better and understand what it means to be a team."

Hunter had three double gold medallists on the day, one senior and two freshmen. Ita Chavez-Geller (Mexico City, Mexico) won the number three singles flight, beating Baruch's Barbara Boczkowska (Queens, NY) 6-2, 6-3 in the final. Later in the afternoon, Chavez-Geller teamed with Iris Antonescu (Astoria, NY) to win the title in the #1 doubles flight, 6-2, 6-0 over Staten Island's Liza Dungo and Dharma Musacchia (Brooklyn, NY).

"It's great to leave the team with a championship," said Chavez-Geller, who also won the #1 doubles final Antonescu last seasons. "After four years of playing for the team, you gain confidence on and off the court."

The Hawks #2 doubles team of Maureen McBride (Ridgefield, CT) and Marilyn Penaco (Bronx, NY) had the toughest match of the day, beating Baruch's Boczkowska and Ma Qin (Queens, NY) in the final 7-5, 3-6, 6-0. Earlier, McBride topped CSI's Amanda Klein (Staten Island, NY) 6-1, 6-4 in number two singles and Penaco beat Klein's doubles partner Emily Tong (Brooklyn, NY) 7-5, 6-2 in the number three final.

Dungo, a loser to Antonescu in 1999 as a freshman, won the number one singles gold with a 6-4, 6-1 win over CCNY's Evelyn Chang (Queens, NY). "I'm very honored to get a reward like this for all the hard work that we do," said Dungo. "I'm already looking forward to next year."

The Dolphin's Linda Lacurto, a senior from Staten Island, won the fifth singles flight with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Hunter's Esther Montoro (Madrid, Spain) and Giorgia Penso, an import from Italy gave CSI hope for the future, winning the title at sixth singles and at third doubles. In singles she beat the Hawks Maria Denisova (Brooklyn, NY) 6-2, 6-1, before teaming up with senior Albina Tolmach (Brooklyn, NY) to take the doubles crown 6-2, 6-4 over Denisova and Montoro.

By Gregg Cohen-CUNYAC