NEWTON, Mass. - The Simmons College women's tennis team defeated host Mount Ida College, 9-0, this afternoon in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference match in Newton, Mass. The Sharks have won six of their last seven matches and are not 7-5 on the season and finish the league regular season with a 6-0 mark to post an undefeated conference mark for the eighth straight year. Simmons extends its regular-season conference match win streak to 58 straight. The Sharks have not lost a GNAC match since a 6-3 loss to host Suffolk University on October 13, 2007. The Mustangs fall to 2-6 overall and 1-3 in league play.

Simmons did not drop a game in five of the six singles matches and only lost two games in singles play the entire match.

Senior Katie Crowley (Reading, Mass.) (6-4 singles, 6-5 doubles), junior Ashley Pierce (Carver, Mass.) (6-3 singles, 3-2 doubles) and sophomore Mary Matthews (Wakefield, R.I.) (1-3 singles, 5-4 doubles) were all double winners for Simmons.

Crowley teamed with classmate Rachael Downey (Groveland, Mass.) (5-5 singles, 5-6 doubles) to earn an 8-1 victory over the Mount Ida duo of sophomore Rebecca Levy (Plymouth, Mass.) and first year Jenna Jarman (Auburn, N.Y.) at first doubles to put the Sharks on the board. Crowley later earned a 6-0, 6-0 victory at number three singles over senior Rose Schneider (Lowell, Mass.) to give Simmons a 6-0 lead in the dual match.

Matthews was a winner at second doubles with first year Ashley Chen (Hilo, Hawaii) (6-5 singles, 7-5 doubles) over Schneider and junior Katlyn Jesse (Marshfield, Mass.), 8-0. Matthews defeated the Mustangs' Jesse in singles action as well, earning a 6-1, 6-1 victory at fifth singles in the final match of the afternoon. 

Pierce matched up with sophomore Lilli Blumkin (Del Mar, Calif.) (1-1 singles, 2-0 doubles) for an 8-1 win at number three doubles for the Sharks over first year Mackenzie Bumpus (Wilmington, Mass.) and junior Danielle Barnabe (Warwick, R.I.) to give Simmons a sweep of doubles play. Pierce did not lose a game in singles action, defeating Bumpus, 6-0, 6-0, at number four singles to give the visitors an 8-0 advantage.

Junior Meg Cokely (Haverhill, Mass.) (8-2 singles, 8-2 doubles) won her fourth straight singles match with a 6-0, 6-0 victory at second singles over Jarman to give the Sharks the fifth and decisive winning point. Junior Theresa Reinhard (Canton, Ohio) (6-4 singles, 8-2 doubles) followed suit with a 6-0, 6-0 win at first singles over Mount Ida's Levy and sophomore Winnie Yee (South San Francisco, Calif.) (2-1 singles, 2-0 doubles) also turned in a 6-0, 6-0 effort at sixth singles over the Mustangs' sophomore Yuliana Chairez (Waltham, Mass.).

Simmons returns to action this weekend when it competes in the New England Women's Intercollegiate Tennis Tournament on Friday, October 16 in South Hadley, Mass. at Smith College, while Mount Ida travels to Providence, R.I. to take on Johnson & Wales University on October 17 at 6:00 p.m.