PURCHASE, NY - The 2018 Purchase College women's tennis team was good.

Like really good.

An 11-2 overall record. 6-0 in Skyline Conference regular season games. Hosted the Skyline Conference Championship. Four players on the All-Skyline Conference First and Second Teams. And had the Skyline Conference Rookie of the Year. 

Even with all of those accomplishments, one achievement stands out among the rest, as the team become the first women's program in Purchase College history to earn the No. 1 seed in a Skyline Conference Tournament. 

Before the success of that season, no women's team had ever claimed the No. 1 seed, as the 2012-13 women's basketball team, 2009 women's soccer team and the 2010 and 2013 women's tennis teams finished the year as No. 2 seeds in the Skyline playoffs.

The only true rival to the success of the 2018 women's tennis season are the women's swimming campaigns of 2007-08 and 2008-09.

During those two years, the Panthers finished each season in first place atop the Skyline Conference standings. However, the Skyline Conference Swim Championships do not involve a playoff and instead allow all teams to compete during a two-day event instead, therefore making the women's tennis team the first No. 1 seed in a playoff.

The 2018 Panthers took a very interesting route to the No. 1 seed, as they started the year with a loss at Brooklyn College. But from there, something just clicked. The squad proceeded to reel off 11-straight wins, including seven-straight against Skyline Conference foes.

Eventually, the winning steak came to an end in the Skyline Conference Championship against St. Joseph's College-Long Island. Despite hosting the Golden Eagles on their home court, the Panthers fell in the contest by the score of 5-1. 

Even with the defeat, the success of the team and its players cannot be diminished.

A then freshman, Bianca Harris (JR/Montgomery, NY) collected the Skyline Conference Rookie of the Year award and a spot on the All-Skyline First Team, while fellow freshmen Grace Bradshaw and Alivia Cagliano claimed spots on the All-Skyline First and Second Teams respectively. 

Rounding out the success for the 2018 squad was one of its leaders, Abigail Cuddy '19, who was named to the All-Skyline Second Team to closeout her collegiate career. 

All of those feats are impressive on their own, but when combined together? You get a historic season to say the least.

Following this retrospective, there is certainly no doubt in my mind that the legacy of the 2018 women's tennis team will live on for many years to come at Purchase College.