BRONX, N.Y. — The Pratt Institute women's tennis team overcame an early doubles deficit to defeat Hunter College 4-3 on Sunday afternoon at the Lehman College Tennis Courts, securing the 2026 City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC) regular season championship and the No. 1 seed for the upcoming conference tournament.

Pratt (7-0, 5-0 CUNYAC), who joined the CUNYAC as an associate member this season, dropped the doubles point for the first time but answered with four singles victories to pass its toughest test of the season and extend its overall dual-match winning streak to 27 matches, dating back to October 2024. Hunter (9-1, 5-1 CUNYAC), the defending CUNYAC champions, suffered its first league loss in two seasons and its first of the 2026 campaign.

The Hawks earned the opening team point by securing two of the three doubles courts. Seniors Pallavi Verghese (Fayetteville, Ark.) and Beatrice Crespo (Kearny, N.J.) gave the Cannoneers an early advantage with a 6-1 win at No. 1 doubles. Hunter answered on court three with a 6-2 win, Pratt's first loss of the season at No. 3 doubles. The Hawks then clinched the doubles point at the No. 2 position, where Sara Novo and Apollinariia Stepanenko edged Judith Song (Sharon, Mass.) and Olivia Tao (Ann Arbor, Mich.) in a tiebreak, 7-6 (3).

Trailing 1-0 heading into singles, the Cannoneers quickly turned the match around by capturing the first two completed flights. Tao leveled the team score with a 6-2, 7-5 win at No. 4 singles, and Crespo followed on court two, 6-2, 6-3 to push Pratt in front 2-1.

Hunter leveled the match at 2-2 with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Song at No. 3 singles, Song's first singles blemish on the season.

Verghese then delivered the decisive point for the Cannoneers at the top flight. Facing Isabella Tchij at No. 1 singles, the senior dropped a tight opening set 7-5 before leveling the contest with a 6-1 win in the second. In the deciding third set, Verghese trailed 4-3 before rallying to win the final three games, closing out a 5-7, 6-1, 6-4 victory to deliver the key swing point for the Cannoneers.

Yu followed immediately on court five with a 6-1, 6-1 victory to clinch the match, before the Hawks took the point on court six with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Sophia Schafler (West Palm Beach, Fla.).

Pratt concludes CUNYAC play returning to the Bronx tomorrow, Oct. 19, to take on Lehman College in a conference match starting at 4 p.m.