NEW YORK | The Skyline Conference Women's Tennis All-Conference team is littered with starts from the top four teams in this week's conference tournament, most notably Player of the Year Lien Collings of Farmingdale State and Rookie of the Year Adrianna Filippelli of Manhattanville.
Backed by Collings (below), the Rams enter the league tournament today as the No. 2 seed, while Filippelli headlines a Valiant contingent a league-leading four of seven on the First Team for the top seed in the field. Defending champion Manhattanville edged FSC, 4-3, on the final day of the regular season to secure the top spot.
Collings enjoyed a banner campaign, going 11-4 in singles, including a 6-0 mark in conference at the No. 1 flight to pace the Rams. She also combined for an 11-4 overall doubles mark, 5-1 in the Skyline, with a perfect 3-0 record overall at No. 1 doubles, including a 2-0 showing in the Skyline. She teamed for an 8-4 record in the second flight, posting a 3-1 record over that stretch in conference. She finished the season undefeated in Skyline play in top-flight singles. The two-time Skyline Player of the Week ranks fourth all-time at FSC in doubles victories (44) and is tied for eighth in singles victories (38).
Collings been named Player of the Year in voting conducted by the seven women's tennis head coaches. She joined six others on the First Team, including Filippelli and Manhattanville stars Suzi Doyle, Addison-Mercedes Ortiz and Amaya Ortiz. Yeshiva's Shira Adler and Purchase's Amelia Perlmutter round out the First Team as all seven players are among the four teams in the postseason – Manhattanville, FSC, Purchase and YU.
Rookie sensation Filippelli (below) went 10-2 in singles, collecting wins at No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 singles, with most coming from the third spot in the lineup as she went 8-2 at No. 3. She made a significant impact in doubles, going 10-1 in tandem, including a perfect 6-0 in Skyline play for the top seed.
Filippelli's mentor, Alex Sandri (below), was tabbed as Coach of the Year in voting by his peers. Sandri was appointed as the head tennis coach at Manhattanville in August of 2021. He completed his third full season as the head coach of both the men's and women's teams in the 2023-24 campaign. Last fall, he led the greatest single-season turnaround in the history of the women's tennis program, taking a team that went 0-10 the year before and leading them to a conference title. The Valiants went 8-3 during the fall semester with a 4-2 mark against the Skyline Conference to earn the No. 3 seed. Manhattanville won both postseason road matches by finals of 5-4, knocking off No. 2 Farmingdale State in the semis before upending top-seed St. Joseph's-Long Island to win the team's first conference title since 2006 and earn the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament berth in the spring.
This season, Sandri led Manhattanville to an 11-1 overall mark and an undefeated (6-0) record in conference, earning his first Skyline Coach of the Year on the women's side in the process (he was named men's Coach of the Year in 2022).
The Second Team features six participants, including FSC standouts Natalie Furchel, MacKenzie Gisler and Amanda Jones, and Yeshiva's Sarah Grunseid and Sarah Leiderman to go along with top rookie Josephine Jackson of Sarah Lawrence.
The head coaches also announced their respective recipients for the All-Sportsmanship Team (below). The conference recognizes All-Sportsmanship Team members in all 19 of its championship sports, with each program announcing one recipient for his or her sportsmanlike demeanor – both in and out of competition.
2024 Skyline Conference Women's Tennis All-Conference Team
First Team
Shira Adler, Sr. - Yeshiva
Lien Collings, Sr. - Farmingdale State
Suzi Doyle, So. - Manhattanville
Adrianna Filippelli, Fr. - Manhattanville
Addison-Mercedes Ortiz, So. - Manhattanville
Amaya Ortiz, So. - Manhattanville
Amelia Perlmutter, So. - Purchase
Second Team
Natalie Furchel, So. - Farmingdale State
MacKenzie Gisler, Jr. - Farmingdale State
Sarah Grunseid, Sr. - Yeshiva
Josephine Jackson, Fr. - Sarah Lawrence
Amanda Jones, Jr. - Farmingdale State
Sarah Leiderman, Sr. - Yeshiva
Player of the Year: Lien Collings, Farmingdale State
Rookie of the Year: Adrianna Filippelli, Manhattanville
Coach of the Year: Alex Sandri, Manhattanville (4th Season)
All-Sportsmanship Team
Mikayla DeMaria, Farmingdale State
Sara King, Manhattanville
Autumn Strobach, Mount Saint Mary
Sierra Blanco, Purchase
Amalia Augustine, St. Joseph's-Long Island
Caroline He, Sarah Lawrence
Sarah Grunseid, Yeshiva