BOSTON, Mass. – The Simmons College women's tennis team dropped just three games in a 9-0 victory over visiting Emerson College this afternoon at Harvard University's Beren Tennis Center in Boston, Mass. The Sharks win their eighth straight match and improve to 11-2 on the season, while the Lions fall to 0-10.
The Simmons junior pair of Rachael Downey (Groveland, Mass.) (5-6 singles, 9-5 doubles) and Caroline Khoury (Portsmouth, Ohio) (6-3 singles, 6-4 doubles) cruised past Emerson's senior Jana Winfield (Andover, Mass.) and first year Theresa Nelson (Highland Mills, N.Y.), 8-0, to set the tone at first doubles. The Sharks took a 2-0 lead thanks to an 8-1 decision at number two doubles from sophomore tandem Tatiana Yugay (Westborough, Mass.) (2-0 singles, 4-1 doubles) and Ashley Pierce (Carver, Mass.) (1-0 singles, 4-0 doubles) over senior Sarah Brennan-Athas and first year Eastin Ashby for the Lions. Emerson forfeited at the number three doubles spot, due to lack of players.
Simmons junior Meg Cokely (Haverhill, Mass.) (11-3 singles, 5-4 doubles) won her third straight singles match without dropping a game and her fifth of that variety for the season, with a 6-0, 6-0 decision over Winfield. It was just her second career match at number one singles. First years Mary Matthews (Wakefield, R.I.) (6-0 singles, 2-0 doubles) and Han DK Le (Tra Vinh, Vietnam) (8-2 singles, 5-0 doubles) both won their respective matches for the Sharks without dropping a game as well. Matthews defeated Ashby at fourth singles, 6-0, 6-0, to give Simmons the deciding fifth point, while Le downed Nelson by the same count at number three singles. Junior Katie Crowley (Reading, Mass.) (7-4 singles, 8-4 singles) upended Brennan-Athas at second singles, 6-1, 6-0, to cap the afternoon for the Sharks. Simmons also gained points at fifth and sixth singles with forfeits from Emerson.
Simmons returns to action on Friday, October 17 when it heads to Northampton, Mass. to compete in the New England Women's Intercollegiate Tournament hosted by Smith College, while the Lions stay on the road for a 5:30 p.m. match with Suffolk University tomorrow.