PURCHASE, N.Y. – For the second-consecutive year, the Manhattanville women's tennis team will be competing for the Skyline Conference Championship. A year removed from their magical run to the title a year ago, the Valiants are the top dogs in the conference standings and host Saturday's title match as the No. 1 seed against No. 2 Farmingdale.
  How We Got Here
There has been no title hangover for the Valiants as the defending champs have run through the Skyline Conference all season long. Manhattanville went 6-0 in conference play during the regular season, securing the top seed in the final matchup of the year fittingly against Farmingdale, a 4-3 matchup that gave a preview of the top two teams doing battle.

The Valiants handled business as the top seed in Wednesday's semifinals, logging a 4-0 sweep of No. 4 Yeshiva. Manhattanville's top doubles pairings got the job done to secure the opening point, with the top tandem of Amaya Ortiz (Bronx, N.Y./High School for Health Professions and Human Services) and Adrianna Filippelli (Mastic, N.Y./William Floyd) winning 6-1 and Suzi Doyle (Devon, England/Exeter College) and Addison-Mercedes Ortiz (Bronx, N.Y./High School for Health Professions and Human Services) winning in the No. 2 flight, 6-2. Doyle and the Ortiz twins cleaned up in the top three singles flights to punch Manhattanville's ticket back to the title match, dropping just four game points total across the three decisions.

Farmingdale had similar results in its semifinal matchup against No. 3 Purchase, sweeping the Panthers 4-0. The Rams' top duos of Natalia Furchel / Amanda Jones and Lien Collings / Gabriella Loria earned 6-0 doubles victories ahead of Furchel, Loria and MacKenzie Gisler picked up wins in their respective singles flights.

Two of the conference's top award earners will be in the spotlight in Saturday's tilt. Manhattanville's Filippelli was selected as the Skyline's Rookie of the Year on Wednesday, the program's first Rookie of the Year since 2021. On the other side, Farmingdale's Collings was named Skyline Player of the Year as the Rams' top singles player went 11-4 on the year in solos, including a 6-0 mark in the conference. The Valiants are led into battle by Alex Sandri, who was named Skyline Coach of the Year to become the team's first recipient of the award since 2006.

The winner of the matchup will earn a spot in May's NCAA Tournament.

Last Time Out
The regular season finale between the two teams back on Oct. 26 was one of the tightest matches played by both sides during the year, hopefully a precursor of things to come for an exciting finals rematch. The Valiants took the upper hand in doubles, with Filippelli and Ortiz defeating Furchel and Jones 6-3 in No. 1s while Doyle and Ortiz bested Collings and Loria 6-4 in the No. 2 spot. The Rams did grab a win in the No. 3 slot, with Gisler and Mikayla DeMaria knocking off the Valiant tandem of Sara King (Schenectady, N.Y./Scotia-Glenville) and Maria Gutierrez (Norwalk, Conn./Brien McMahon), 6-1.

The teams went on to split the six singles flights. For Manhattanville, Doyle, Filippelli and Gutierrez notched wins in the No. 2, 3 and 6 positions, while the Rams earned victories in No. 1, 4 and 5 by way of Collins, Gisler and Loria. Gutierrez' 6-2, 0-6, 6-4 thriller over DeMaria in the No. 6 showing secured the win for the Valiants for the team's fourth point of the affair.

Team Leaders
Manhattanville

• Am. Ortiz: 9-4 Singles, 10-2 Doubles
• Filippelli: 10-2 Singles, 10-2 Doubles
• Doyle: 11-2 Singles, 12-1 Doubles
• Ad. Ortiz: 11-2 Singles, 12-1 Doubles

Farmingdale

• Collings: 11-4 Singles, 12-4 Doubles
• Loria: 14-1 Singles, 12-3 Doubles
• Gisler: 14-2 Singles, 11-3 Doubles
• Furchel: 10-6 Singles, 10-6 Doubles

History

• All-Time Record vs Farmingdale: 3-5
• Streak: Manhattanville W2
• Series Record at Manhattanville: 2-2
• Last Five Meetings (Home team listed second):
  • 10/26/24: Farmingdale 3, Manhattanville 4
  • 10/18.23: Manhattanville 5, Farmingdale 4
  • 9/27/23: Manhattanvile 4, Farmingdale 5
  • 10/8/22: Farmingdale 9, Manhattanville 0
  • 9/29/21: Manhattanville 1, Farmingdale 8

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