BOSTON, Mass. – The fourth-seeded Simmons University women's tennis team received wins from the lower part of its line-up to fuel a 5-2 victory over visiting number five seed Colby-Sawyer College this afternoon in the opening round of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Championship Tournament on Daly Courts in Brighton, Mass. The Sharks win their third straight dual-match and six of their last seven improve to 8-7 on the season, while the Chargers fall to 3-9. The match was played to decision, leaving play at second and third singles unfinished.
Simmons, which is making its 17th consecutive appearance in the GNAC Tournament, advances to play top-seeded Johnson & Wales University in the GNAC Semifinals on Saturday, October 19 at 2:00 p.m. at the Winchester Indoor Tennis Center in Winchester, Mass. Colby-Sawyer's season comes to an end with the loss.
The Sharks won three points at the lower part of their singles line-up with wins at fourth, fifth and sixth singles, while also gaining victories at second and third doubles.
Simmons junior Carrie St. Peter (Chester, N.H.) won the opening set at sixth singles, 6-2, over Colby-Sawyer first year Hannah Nasser (Middletown, R.I.), but found herself trailing 4-2 in the second frame, before rallying to win the final four games to win the set, 6-4, and give the Sharks the deciding point and a 5-2 victory. St. Peter improves to a perfect 4-0 in singles play.
St. Peter combined with first year Leah Bonis (Bath, Maine), earlier in the match to earn an 8-1 victory at number three doubles over Nasser and junior Margaret Fox (New Orleans, La.) to knot the dual match at 1-1. The sophomore tandem of Sarah Mariski (Portland, Maine) and Megan McKeever (Stamford, Conn.) put together an 8-5 triumph at second doubles over the Chargers sophomore pairing of Amira Eid (Pelham, N.H.) and Juliet Henderson (Swanzey, N.H.) to give Simmons a 2-1 edge heading into singles play.
Mariski and McKeever both joined St. Peter as double-winners with victories in singles action as well. Mariski dropped just two games in a 6-1, 6-1 win at fourth singles for the Sharks over Henderson, while McKeever matched the effort with a 6-1, 6-1 victory of her own at number five singles over Fox to give Simmons a 4-2 lead in the match.
Junior Yashu Yang (Kunming City, China) led Colby-Sawyer, winning both points on the day with wins at number one doubles and first singles. She combined with senior Alexa Conlin (Westborough, Mass.) for an 8-1 showing over the Sharks senior duo of Nickie Nguyen (Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam/Saint Joseph Preparatory (Mass.)) and Marissa Johnson (Norton, Mass.) to gain the first point of the match. Yashu was nearly flawless in singles play, surrendering just one game in a 6-1, 6-0 win over Nguyen to knot the match at 2-2.