WEYMOUTH, Mass. -- In a Great Northeast Athletic Conference semifinal Saturday afternoon, #1 seeded Simmons tennis defeated the #4 Johnson & Wales University Wildcats, 8-1 to advance to the GNAC Championship for the fifth consecutive year.

The Sharks went up 3-0 early with a sweep of the doubles play. Margaret Teague (Manchester, N.H.) teamed up with Meghan Cokely (Haverhill, Mass.) for a perfect 8-0 win over Stephanie Piperis and Laura Schwenk at the number one position, while Sabrina Salmela (Beverly, Mass.) and Rachael Downey (Groveland, Mass.) defeated Ansley Sego and Gabrielle Longo 8-1 at the number two spot. In the number three position, Kristi Mielbye (Hanson, Mass.) and Caroline Khoury (Portsmouth, Ohio) defeated Darcy Predieri and Joanna Kaskiw 8-3 for the sweep.

In singles play, Cokely swept Sego 6-0, 6-0 and Salmela defeated Schwenk 6-1, 6-0 to solidify the win the for the Sharks. Teague defeated Piperis 6-0, 6-1, Katie Crowley (Reading, Mass.) defeated Predieri 6-2, 6-0 and Mielbye came from behind to defeat Liz Sammelbraun 6-2, 6-4.

The Sharks return to the GNAC championship on Sunday to defend their 2011 title at 1:00 p.m. at the Winsor School courts where they will face the winner of #2 Emerson College/#3 Emmanuel College.