Kopala and Romanoff Earn Skyline Top Honors
New York, NY| Sophomore Natalie Kopala of the St. Joseph's University, New York (L.I.) women's tennis team was named Rookie of the Year when the Skyline Conference released its end-of-season awards on Tuesday morning. Head coach Robyn Romanoff was dubbed this season's Coach of the Year.
Kopala was 5-3 on the season and went unbeaten against Skyline opponents at 5-0 in #1 singles play. The sophomore finished 4-4 in doubles overall with a 3-2 SKyline record during the regular season, leading SJLI to a first-place finish.
Romanoff led the Golden Eagles to a perfect 6-0 Skyline record during the regular season and qualified for the playoffs as the first seed. After toppling Yeshiva, 5-0, in the semifinal round, St. Joseph's was upset, 5-4, by three-seeded Manhattanville College in the final.
2023 Skyline Conference Women's Tennis All-Conference Team
First Team
Addison-Mercedes Ortiz, Fr. - Manhattanville
Lien Collings, Jr. - Farmingdale State
Suzi Doyle, Fr. - Manhattanville
Natalie Furchel, Fr. - Farmingdale State
Natalie Kopala, So. - St. Joseph's-Long Island
Bea Pretnar, Sr. - Manhattanville
Simi Rao, Jr. - Sarah Lawrence
Second Team
Shira Adler, Jr. - Yeshiva
Sierra Blanco, So. - Purchase
Elaina Coppola, Sr. - Purchase
MacKenzie Gisler, So. - Farmingdale State
Amanda Jones, Fr. - Farmingdale State
Keto Karkashadze, So. - Manhattanville
Player of the Year: Bea Pretnar, Manhattanville
Rookie of the Year: Natalie Kopala, St. Joseph's-Long Island
Coach of the Year: Robyn Romanoff, St. Joseph's-Long Island