WORCESTER, Mass. – The Simmons College women's tennis team saw four players win a pair of matches on the day to fuel a 9-0 victory over host Clark University this afternoon in Worcester, Mass. The Sharks improve to 2-2 on the season, while the Cougars drop their season-opening match. 

The Simmons sophomore doubles tandem of Nickie Nguyen (Ho Chi Minh, Vietman/Saint Joseph Preparatory (Mass.)) and Marissa Johnson (Norton, Mass.) posted an 8-3 victory over Clark junior Maggie Tarbox (Lebanon, Conn.) and sophomore Chloe Dunnell (Montclair, N.J.) at number two doubles to score the first point of the afternoon. Sophomore Jessica Schroedl (Staatsburg, N.Y.) and senior Olivia Lakes (Dorchester, Mass.) combined on an 8-4 victory at number one singles over Cougars sophomore Anna Gates (North Scituate, R.I.) and first year Jillian Skulsky (Marshfield, Mass.), before the first year duo of Celia Speth (Deerfield, Mass.) and Gail Tynkov (Edison, N.J.) earned a hard fought 9-7 triumph at third doubles over the home team's first year pair of Elizabeth Garfield (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) and Elizabeth Tchantouridze (Northfield, Vt.) to give the Sharks a 3-0 lead. The win was the first at the collegiate level for Tynkov. 

Speth cruised to a 6-2, 6-1 win at sixth singles for Simmons over Tarbox for her first collegiate match as a double-winner, while junior Michelle Medici (South Portland, Maine) earned a 6-1, 6-3 win at fourth singles over sophomore Kathryn Benson (Huston, Mass.) to give the Sharks the fifth and deciding point. 

Schroedl was a 6-1, 7-5 winner at first singles for Simmons over Gates and Nguyen defeated Skulsky at number two singles, winning the first set 6-4, before gutting out a 7-6 (6) second set win for the match. Johnson dropped just one game in the first set at number three singles against Tchantouridze and scored a 6-4 win in the second to give the Sharks an 8-0 lead. Junior Paola Rios (Miami, Fla.) also captured a singles win for Simmons, winning at fifth singles over Garfield. She overcame a 7-5 first set loss and won the final two frames, 6-4 and 10-5 in the super-tiebreak. 

The Sharks return to the court on Wednesday, September 13 when they host University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) to open the conference schedule at 4:30 p.m. on Daly Courts, while Clark hosts Rhode Island College on September 12 at 4:00 p.m.