The College of Staten Island women's tennis team have earned the No. 5 seeding in the upcoming CUNYAC Postseason Championship Tournament, by virtue of a 5-4 victory over City College of New York in their regular season finale played earlier this afternoon at Randall's Island. The win broke up a would-be three-way tie for the No. 5 seed, one that could have potentially seeded CSI as low as 7^th had the Beavers prevailed. CSI improved to 7-10 overall and 5-4 in the CUNYAC. CSI will travel to face No. 4 Lehman College, who also finished 5-4.

In the heavily-contested contest, play began with doubles, and CSI took two out of the three flights for a crucial 2-1 lead. Without the services of their No. 1 player, Gabriella Villarruel due to classroom commitments, CSI was still able to prevail. It was the bottom of the lineup that stepped up in their teammate's absence. At No. 2 doubles, the team of Justine Kuna and Fabiana Iannuzzi scored a decisive, 8-3 winner over CCNY's Janine Beckes and Katherine Gomero. Almost immediately following, the CSI team of Tara Colao and Nancy Almazo scored an 8-4 win over Natalie Staint Eloi and Michelle Emakpae. 

Up 2-1, CSI now looked for at least a split in singles to score the win, and again the bottom of the order delivered. CCNY scored wins in the three top spots. While CCNY won the top three spots, Almazo scored a win at No.4 Singles with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Gomero. Down 4-3, CSI needed wins at Nos. 5-6.

At No. 5, Justine Kuna needed a second set tiebreak, but she got the job done over Staint Eloi, 6-2, 7-6 (10-8). That left Tara Colao at No. 6, and she battled to a third set tiebreak with Emakpae. Emakpae took the first set, 6-4, but Colao returned the favor with a 6-4 win in the second set. Down to the last set, Colao proved too powerful, winning 6-2, and sending CSI to the playoffs on a high note.

The win by CSI tied them in the standings with Lehman College. The Lightning earned the No. 4 seed by virtue of their regular season win over the Dolphins. Tomorrow, the Dolphins will travel to the Bronx for the 3pm quarterfinal matchup. The winner will move on to the CUNYAC Semifinals on Thursday at 4pm at the National Tennis Center in Flushing, New York.