New York, N.Y. - At this unprecedented time in our world, the decisions were made by both the NCAA and Skyline Conference recently to cancel all remaining competition and championships for the 2019-20 academic year – with the safety of student-athletes, staff and otherwise at the front of everybody's minds. As a result, more than 300 Skyline senior and graduate student-athletes saw their seasons and, in many cases, their intercollegiate athletics careers end abruptly.
For the next several weeks, the Skyline Conference will honor the senior and graduate student-athletes in its spring championship sports, as well as those whose NCAA championship play was interrupted or never got underway as a result of the cancelation. Clearly, this is not how anybody envisioned their season coming to a close. That said, the Skyline Conference wants to thank our senior and graduate student-athletes for being model conference members during your time at our institutions; your contributions will not be forgotten.
To start our recognition series, the Farmingdale State College women's tennis team had a trio of seniors – Nicole Ferguson, Julia Marino and Kayla Reidy – who sent their squad to a Skyline Conference title this past October. Head coach Adam Waterhouse's Rams started their season with a 1-1 record, before ripping off 15-consecutive victories, en route to an unblemished Skyline record and conference championship triumph. FSC earned automatic qualification to the 2020 NCAA Division III Women's Tennis Championship behind first-team all-conference praise for Reidy, and championship Most Outstanding Player accolades for Ferguson – who did not lose a singles match all season.
Recently, Waterhouse provided his insight on his side's three seniors:
Ferguson: "Nicole played tennis at FSC for two years as well as running track for the school. She immediately made an impact as a starter in both singles and doubles. Her natural abilities as an athlete have allowed her to excel in both sports for the past two years. Nicole was also an amazing role model to a very young team this year. Her dedication to academics and athletics was easy to see. I will miss seeing how much fun Nicole had while competing."
Marino: "Julia is a four year player on the women's tennis team at FSC. When Julia began her career she joined a powerful team and did not see much playing time. However, with hard work and dedication, she worked her way into the starting line-up these past three years. Julia is a fierce competitor and became a mainstay at the number six singles position. Her ability to keep a ball in play would wear down her opponent and frustrate them completely. Julia has been the ideal team player for so long and she will be sorely missed."
Reidy: "Kayla was our four-year, two-time captain and leader of the team. As a freshman she helped a very talented team earn its fourth consecutive Skyline Conference title and NCAA Championship appearance. Kayla helped build the team back up as a sophomore and junior, leading the team to another championship during her senior year. She is the definition of a role model; Kayla is a serious student (nursing), fierce competitor, and ultimate team player. Kayla played first singles and doubles for three years, and will be one of those players that will be impossible to replace."
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