The Envoy

Hunter College closed its fall sports season with two team championships, multiple honors and one unexpected setback. The Hawks won titles in women’s tennis and cross country and collected individual accolades across sports. A loss in women’s volleyball accounted for the program’s only major setback. 

Women’s Tennis

Women’s tennis finished as conference champion with an 11-0 record and earned the top seed in the conference tournament. The title marked the program’s fourth in six seasons and its 25th overall. 

The Hawks defeated Baruch College 4-1 in the final at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Sara Novo earned championship MVP honors with wins in doubles and singles, including a 6-1, 6-0 singles victory. 

Others shone in doubles. Jade Schoenfeld and Isabella Tchij won their match 6-3, while Anna Chapko and Sara Contreras led 4-3. Last year’s championship MVP Julia Aksementova also won her singles match 3-0. Several other matches stopped during the day, with Hunter leading in most of them (according to the official recap of the game). The win secured an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Women’s Tennis Championship this spring. 

Women’s Volleyball

Women’s volleyball finished 10-25 amid a season affected by injuries. The Hawks secured notable wins against the United States Merchant Marine Academy and competed closely with conference rival John Jay College of Criminal Justice. 

The Hawks faced conference rival John Jay College of Criminal Justice in the second round of the women’s volleyball playoffs after defeating City College of New York 3-1 in the first round. Each set felt like a game of chess, with both sides using every move until the set ended. The Hawks put it all on the court, but it wasn’t enough as John Jay won 3-0 (25-23, 25-18, 25-19). The loss kept the Hawks from reaching the conference championship for the first time since 2009. 

While the Hawks’ season had its challenges, several players earned postseason accolades. Natalie Polanco was named to the sportsmanship team, while Lily Mattison and Amina Moummad earned first-team honors. Madeline Snyder collected three Player of the Week awards. 

Men’s Soccer

As the reigning conference champions, the men’s soccer team appeared poised for another strong season. Assistant Coach Evan Reifsnyder was promoted to dead coach in the offseason after Daniel Cinelli’s departure, and new recruits combined with a strong returning core to promise continued success. 

The team finished with a 5-7-4 overall record. Their semifinal matchup against Lehman College was a hard-fought contest. The Hawks battled Lehman College in a hard-fought semifinal matchup. They put nine shots on goal and kept the pressure on throughout the match. Freshmen striker Brandon Fridburg scored the team’s only goal on a penalty kick. The Hawks lost 2-1 in a rematch of last year’s championship final. Despite the early exit, the season was far from a disaapointment. 

This year’s team featured several standouts, including winger Georgios Tsiakas and Fernando Zuvela, who scored against Medgar Evers and Lehman College, respectively. Senior Ahmed Abukar and Gregory Papadopoulos anchored the midfield and defense. The mix of experienced seniors and emerging freshmen represents a bright future for the men’s soccer program.

As for post season accolades, three players received awards. Freshman Defender Patrick Irving received first team all conference honors while defender Conor Sullivan and midfielder Bejohn Alerte received second team accolades.

Cross Country

Both Cross Country teams had an amazing season by their standards. They secured the men’s and women’s team titles for another consecutive year. The women’s team won its 11th straight title and scored 40 points overall. In cross country, lower scores indicate higher finishes. Shannon Ferri placed second overall, Mikaelle Ceasar finished third, Maria Gonzalez took sixth and Emma Kilroy placed ninth. Melanie Liu finished 20th to round out the top-20 finishers. 

For the men, this was their fifth straight title, and they scored 28 points overall. Mateo Penafil placed second, Brian Arias finished third, Jack Treacher took sixth, and Hengzhi Zhu placed seventh to round out the team’s top-10 finished. Robert Lian Xu finished 11th.

Multiple Hawks earned postseason honors. On the women’s side, Shannon Ferri was named Runner of the Year, after receiving four runner-of-the-week honors this season. Maria Gonzalez earned Rookie of the Year honors, and Coach Marvin Hawkins received his third straight Women’s Coach of the Year accolade. Peach Kilroy was named to the Sportsmanship Team. The women’s all-conference team included Shannon Ferri, Mikaelle Cesar, Maria Gonzalez, and Peach Kilroy.

On the men’s side, the Hawks completed a sweep of the major awards. Mateo Penafiel earned Runner of the Year Honors after receiving three runner-of-the-week awards in 2025. Brian Arias was named Rookie of the Year after collecting three rookie-of-the-week accolades during the season. Coach Marvin Hawkins earned Men’s Coach of the Year honors for the third time.

Looking Forward

The winter and spring seasons look promising for the Hawks. The women’s basketball team should be gearing up to make another productive season with Alexa Charles in her senior season. The women’s swimming team looks to defend its conference title, while track and field and men’s volleyball also enter their seasons with high expectations. One could say this recent fall sports season was just like the actual season of fall for us in NYC: cold some days, but comforting in others.