WINCHESTER, Mass. – Seniors Meg Cokely (Haverhill, Mass.) and Rachael Downey (Groveland, Mass.) were double winners to lead the top-seeded Simmons College women's tennis team to a 5-0 victory over fourth-seeded University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) in the Semifinals of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Championship Tournament this afternoon at the Winchester Indoor Tennis Center in Winchester, Mass. The Sharks will play for the GNAC crown for the 12th straight year. Simmons has won seven straight conference championships and 10 of the last 11.
The Sharks improve to 8-5 on the season and will take on number three seed Johnson & Wales University, who upset the number two seed, Suffolk University, 5-4, tomorrow afternoon at 12:30 p.m. at the Winchester Tennis Center. Saint Joseph falls to 8-7 on the year.
Cokely (9-2 singles, 13-4 doubles) teamed with junior Theresa Reinhard (Canton, Ohio) (6-4 singles, 13-4 doubles) to defeat junior Rebecca Mauri (Meriden, Conn.) and first year Lucy Roberge (Willington, Conn.), 8-0, at number one doubles to give Simmons a 1-0 edge. Downey (6-4 singles, 11-7 doubles) paired with senior Katie Crowley (Reading, Mass.) (6-4 singles, 7-5 doubles) to earn an 8-2 victory at second doubles over the Blue Jays' first year duo of Sakinah Abdulsalam (Bristol, Conn.) and Ashley Savino (Old Saybrook, Conn.). Sophomore Mary Matthews (Wakefield, R.I.) (1-3 singles, 7-8 doubles) and first year Ashley Chen (Hilo, Hawaii) (6-5 singles, 9-11 doubles) combined on an 8-2 win over Saint Joseph's first year combo of Leah Nguyen (West Hartford, Conn.) and Natalia Rozio (Newington, Conn.) to give the Sharks a 3-0 lead after doubles play.
Cokely did not drop a game at second singles to give Simmons a 4-0 advantage, defeating Mauri, 6-0, 6-0. Downey gave the Sharks the victory in a dual match that was played to decision with a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Savino at number four singles.