BOSTON, Mass. – The top-seeded Simmons College women's tennis team will play fifth-seeded Anna Maria College in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Championship Tournament semifinals. The Sharks take on the AMCATS on Saturday, October 25 at 2:00 p.m. at the Winchester Indoor Tennis Lawn Center in Winchester, Mass.
Simmons will play in the semifinal round for the 12th straight year, while Anna Maria is making its second appearance since joining the conference in 2011. The Sharks have won six straight GNAC Championships and nine of the last 10. Simmons has faced Anna Maria College once in the tournament and defeated the AMCATS, 9-0, in last year's semifinals.
Simmons defeated the AMCATS earlier this season on September 28, 9-0, at Harvard University's Beren Tennis Center in Boston.
The Sharks have won seven straight matches and is currently 11-2 on the season, including a perfect 6-0 in Great Northeast Athletic Conference matches. Simmons has won 52 straight GNAC matches and has not lost a league contest since a 6-3 road loss to Suffolk University on October 13, 2007. Simmons went undefeated in league play for the seventh straight season. The Sharks current win streak is their longest since a 10-match stretch last season. Simmons hasn't lost a dual match since a 9-0 defeat to visiting Babson College on September 10.
Individually, the Sharks are a combined 72-29 (.713) in singles play, including 33-3 (.917) against GNAC foes. They own an overall combined 36-13 (.735) mark in doubles action and are a perfect 18-0 in GNAC matches. Three different players have been named GNAC Player of the Week with junior Meg Cokely (Haverhill, Mass.) taking the honor twice and sophomore Theresa Reinhard (Canton, Ohio) and junior Katie Crowley (Reading, Mass.) each being tabbed once. Although Simmons does not feature a senior on its roster, its young nucleus has served it well. Two players have also earned GNAC Rookie of the Week awards, led by first year Han DK Le (Tra Vinh, Vietnam/Matignon HS (Mass.), who has topped the league with four nods as the top weekly rookie in addition to classmate Mary Matthews (Wakefield, R.I.), who has garnered the accolade once.
Crowley could be the team's hottest player right now, having won nine straight combined matches, including five in a row in singles action. She is having a breakout season, posting a combined 23-8 mark, primarily at fifth singles and number three doubles to provide Simmons with firepower at the bottom of the lineup. She combined with her doubles partner, Han, to capture the New England Women's Intercollegiate Tennis Tournament "D" Draw crown over competitors from Mount Holyoke College, Nichols College, Wheaton College and Babson College. Le has burst onto the collegiate tennis scene, posting a combined mark of 19-4, including a perfect 9-0 in doubles play. She has seen most of her action at sixth singles, but has also shown the versatility to play higher up in the lineup as well.
Cokely has been the team's most consistent player at the top of the lineup. The junior has won five straight singles matches and owns a 13-3 record to lead the squad in singles wins from the number two spot. She's also registered a 7-5 record at first doubles. Reinhard is 7-8 from the top position in the singles lineup, but has won three of her last four matches and has been solid in doubles play with an 8-4 record to force her way into the number one doubles slot with Cokely. Number three singles player junior Rachael Downey (Groveland, Mass.) owns a 15-12 overall mark, including 9-6 in doubles play. She has been solid at number two doubles. ClassmateCaroline Khoury (Portsmouth, Ohio) has flourished since joining Downey in doubles play, posting a 4-1 mark as part of a 6-5 record on the season. Since the middle of September, Khoury has really put it together, winning 10 of her last 12 combined matches and owns a 6-4 singles mark for the year, primarily from the four spot.
One of the Sharks' keys to success this season has been their depth. Following their top six players in the lineup, the rest of the roster has combined to post a staggering 17-0 record in singles play and 18-2 in doubles action and has proven quite able to play in the regular lineup at any time. Sophomore Cathy Baker (Simsbury, Conn.) leads the group with a combined 11-1 record, including a perfect 5-0 in singles play and could be counted on to step into the regular lineup without hesitation. Matthews has opened some eyes with a combined 8-0 mark, including 6-0 in singles play, while sophomores Tatiana Yugay (Westborough, Mass.) (2-0 singles, 4-1 doubles) and Ashley Pierce (Carver, Mass.) (1-0 singles, 4-0 doubles) and first years Lilli Blumkin (Del Mar, Calif.) (2-0 singles, 1-0 doubles) and Winnie Yee (South San Francisco, Calif.) (1-0 singles, 1-0 doubles) have proved their mettle as well.