Senior tennis star Cat Crummey was recently named the co-recipient of the Peter Cahill Award—the most valuable player award for the SUNYAC tennis season.
This accolade is just the tip of a fabulous career for Crummey, who started her journey at the University of Albany and transferred to Geneseo after her sophomore season. Always the first one on the court and the last one to leave, Crummey gives 110 percent in everything she does.
“She’s the emotional leader of our team,” head coach Jason Stephens said. “She really leads by example.”
Growing up the middle child of five, Crummey attributes most of her success to her family. “My two older sisters always played tennis and I wanted to be just like them,” Crummey said.
The support of her family—something that Crummey emphasized is key to her success—has been the backbone of her tennis career. Whether it was at Shaker High School or Geneseo, Crummey was never without the support of her family.
“My family has been at my side [since] I started playing and having them there is a very special thing for me,” she said.
Even though it was almost seven years ago when Crummey was a freshman in high school, she believes that she is not much different as a player now.
“In high school I was a fighter,” she said. “I would fight tooth and nail for every point and I’m much the same in college. I work as hard as possible to make sure that I win.”
In her MVP campaign, Crummey has put together a truly impressive résumé. This season, she was named first-team All-SUNYAC for number-one doubles and for number-one singles. This is the second straight season that she has earned first-team honors. She has a combined record of 33-4 this season, going 14-2 in singles matches and 19-2 in doubles matches. She went a combined 11-0 against SUNYAC competition.
“This season, I went out and focused on every practice and on every match,” Crummey said. “Every time I stepped on the court, I realized how lucky I was to be representing Geneseo and to be able to play the game I love.”
Just because she was immensely focused and put up magnificent numbers all season long, however, doesn’t mean Crummey wasn’t having a good time on the court.
“Being a senior, I am doing everything I can to try and have fun with it,” she said.
That’s one of the main reasons that Crummey has been able to keep herself in check all season—she knows when to have fun with the game.
Being able to retain her fighting spirit while simultaneously enjoying the game for what it is has made Cat Crummey into the SUNYAC MVP. Being able to never quit and never give up is exactly why she has had such a stellar tennis career throughout her life.