NORTHAMPTON, Mass. - The Simmons College women's tennis team defeated host Smith College, 7-2, this afternoon in Northampton, Mass. The Sharks win their 11th straight match to improve to 14-2 on the season in their first dual match of the season since October 26. The Pioneers fall to 4-9.
Four Simmons players were double winners on the day.
Sophomore Theresa Reinhard (Canton, Ohio) (9-8 singles, 11-5 doubles) reached the combined win mark of 20 with a pair of victories on the day for the Sharks after combining with junior Meg Cokely (Haverhill, Mass.) (15-3 singles, 9-6 doubles) to win at number one doubles over the Smith tandem of senior Jordan Dubin (Southampton, N.Y.) and first year Samantha Peikes (West Hartford, Conn.), 8-3. Reinhard carried her success into singles play as well, defeating sophomore Kelli Cheung (Plainfield, N.J.), 6-3, 6-1, at first singles to give Simmons the fifth and deciding point and a 5-0 lead. Cokely had won earlier at second singles with a 6-3, 6-0 decision over Peikes to extend her singles win streak to seven straight.
Junior Katie Crowley (Reading, Mass.) (14-4 singles, 15-4 doubles) and first year Han DK Le (Tra Vinh, Vietnam/Matignon HS (Mass.)) (13-4 singles, 12-0 doubles) each won both of their respective matches on the day for the Sharks. Crowley combined with Le to win at number three doubles and capture her team-high 15th doubles win with an 8-5 showing over Pioneers' pair of Cheung and senior Ruth Yi (Tacoma, Wash.). Le remained perfect in doubles action with a 12-0 mark. Crowley cruised at number five singles for Simmons, blanking Yi, 6-0, 6-0, for her eighth consecutive singles triumph, while Le topped Smith sophomore Christine Yee (South San Francisco, Calif.), 6-2, 6-2, at sixth singles.
Juniors Rachael Downey (Groveland, Mass.) (6-8 singles, 12-6 doubles) and Caroline Khoury (Portsmouth, Ohio) (6-5 singles, 9-5 doubles) gave the Sharks a sweep in doubles play, combining to win their third straight doubles tilt with an 8-3 showing against sophomore Margaret Anne Smith (Spring Lake, N.J.) and senior Seema Samawi (New York City, N.Y.) at second doubles.
Samawi put the Pioneers on the board with a victory at fourth singles over Khoury, 6-3, 6-2, while Smith gave the home team a win at number three singles over Downey, 6-2, 6-1.
Simmons will be in action again on April 11 when it travels to Waltham, Mass. to take on Brandeis University at 1:00 p.m., while Smith hosts Colby-Sawyer College on April 3 at 4:00 p.m.