FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

AMCATS to face Simmons, Rams draw
Johnson & Wales Saturday in Winchester, Mass.

WINTHROP, Mass. – Fifth-seeded Anna Maria College went on the road to edge fourth-seeded University of Saint Joseph, 5-4, Wednesday afternoon as first-round action got underway in the 2014 GNAC Women's Tennis Tournament.

Later on in the evening, third-seeded Suffolk University blanked sixth-seeded Mount Ida College, 9-0, as both Suffolk and Anna Maria cemented their spots in this weekend's neutral-site Final Four, which will take place at the Winchester Indoor Lawn Tennis Center in Winchester, Mass.

The AMCATS draw top-seeded and regular-season champ Simmons College Saturday at 2:00 p.m., with Suffolk taking on second-seeded Johnson & Wales University at approximately 4:30 p.m.

#5 Anna Maria 5, #4 Saint Joseph (CT) 4
EAST HARTFORD, Conn. – At the East Hartford Racquet Club, the AMCATS trailed 2-1 after doubles play Wednesday and fell behind 3-1 after the Blue Jays took a win at No. 4 singles. From there, the AMATS rallied to take a 4-3 lead following wins by Callie Mulcahy (Charlton, Mass.) at No. 5 singles, Nicola Zamira (Mashpee, Mass.) at No. 3 singles, and Nicole Goudreau (Harrisville, R.I.) at No. 2 singles.

The Blue Jays evened the score again at 4-4 with a 6-0, 6-1 win by Monica Palmieri at No. 6 singles.

With the match on the line and trailing after a 6-2 loss in the first set, Anna Maria's Jessica Gautieri, pictured, (North Attleboro, Mass.) rallied for a 6-1 win in the second set to force a third. The set was close and required extra points, but Gautieri ultimately prevailed with a 7-5 win to seal the match.

Gautieri and Goudreau teamed up at No. 1 doubles and forced tiebreaker points but ultimately took the loss. The AMCATS' lone doubles win came from Zamira and Mulcahy at No. 2 doubles with an 8-2 win. Edelson and Leonard fell 8-0 to Lisa Wawrzynowski and Palmieri at No. 3 doubles.

The win was a rematch of last week's regular season meeting between the two schools, which USJ won by a score of 7-2.

#3 Suffolk 9, #6 Mount Ida 0
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Four players earned multiple victories on the evening for Suffolk, which improved to an 8-6 overall mark on the season.

Sophomore Aidiana Sagyndykova (Almaty, Kazakhstan) extended her winning streak to 12 in singles play cruising in the top individual game by winning in consecutive sets of 6-0.

Suffolk would win five of their six singles games with players posting back to back 6-0 scores.

Senior Adrianna Garrett (Plymouth, Mass.) and junior Rebecca Eshoo (Farmington, Conn.) each won their singles contests by those scores.

Garrett, who took the number two singles game earlier partnered with Sagyndykova for an  8-1 victory in the number one doubles game to earn the duo's 11th win on the year as a tandem.

Eshoo picked up her ninth singles victory of the season and also added a win in doubles play with junior partner Abby Trigilio (Ipswich, Mass.).

Trigilo grabbed a victory in the fourth singles spot with back to back 6-1 victories.

Also earning wins for Suffolk in singles play were juniors Lyndsay Reese (Saco, Maine) and Anna Gleason (Plymouth, Mass.).

Freshmen Jacqueline Nakamura (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.) and Isabel Rathlev (Wellesley, Mass.) rounded out the field with their victory in the third doubles game.

Founded in 1995, the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 12 member institutions and over 3,000 student-athletes across the New England region. Each year, the GNAC sponsors and administers 17 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunity and community involvement.

Information provided by Anna Maria & Suffolk Athletics Communications.

First Round - Wednesday, Oct. 22
Match 1: #5 Anna Maria 5, #4 Saint Joseph (CT) 4 | BOX
Match 2: #3 Suffolk 9, #6 Mount Ida 0 | BOX

Semifinals - Saturday, Oct. 25 at Winchester Indoor Tennis Center
Match 3: #5 Anna Maria vs. #1 Simmons - 2:00 p.m.
Match 4: #3 Suffolk vs. #2 Johnson & Wales - 4:30 p.m.

Championship - Sunday, Oct. 26 at Winchester Indoor Tennis Center
Match 3 winner vs. Match 4 winner - 12:30 p.m.

– #theGNAC –