FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
League champion Simmons
receives five All-Conference choices
WINTHROP, Mass. – Suffolk University sophomore Aidiana Sagyndykova has been named the 2014 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Women's Tennis Player of the Year, as voted upon by the league's head coaches.
A native of Almaty, Kazakhstan, the second-year standout received First Team Singles All-Conference honors for the second straight year, having compiled a 13-1 overall record this fall, all at top flight, including an unblemished 6-0 mark in league play. She was also named to the 2014 GNAC All-Tournament Team.
The other five First Team All-Conference members all represent the two teams that participated in the GNAC title match this past Sunday in Winchester, Mass., as 10-time league champ Simmons College saw junior Meg Cokely, junior Caroline Khoury and sophomore Theresa Reinhard earn First Team accolades, while runner-up Johnson & Wales University seniors Samantha Jo Borr and Stephanie Piperis also earned First Team recognition.
The tandem of Borr and sophomore teammate Morgan Thompson received First Team Doubles All-Conference honors, as the Wildcats duo went 12-1 on the season and 5-1 in GNAC action.
For the complete list of winners and All-Conference Teams, please see below. For a PDF release, please click here.
Simmons finished with five student-athletes receiving All-Conference singles honors, as Sharks sophomore Cathy Baker and freshman Han DK Le collected Second Team recognition.
Le was also voted the 2014 GNAC Rookie of the Year by the league's head coaches, having gone 12-4 overall across four different flights, including a 4-0 mark against league opponents.
Baker and Le joined Anna Maria College senior Nicole Goudreau, Johnson & wales junior Emily Glass, Thompson, and Suffolk junior Rebecca Eashoo on the GNAC All-Second Team.
Cokely and Reinhard of Simmons earned Second Team Doubles All-Conference honors. The pair went 6-2 overall and 4-1 in GNAC play at No. 1 doubles.
Receiving Co-Coach of the Year honors was Simmons head coach Bob Rauseo, who guided the Sharks to their seventh straight GNAC crown, along with Anna Maria head coach Adam Williamson, as the AMCATS earned the fifth seed in the GNAC Tournament before knocking off fourth-seeded University of Saint Joseph (CT) in the first round.
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.
First Team Singles
Samantha Jo Borr, Johnson & Wales (Sr., Westfield, N.J.)
Stephanie Piperis, Johnson & Wales (Sr., Yorktown Heights, N.Y.)
Meg Cokely, Simmons (Jr., Haverhill, Mass.)
Caroline Khoury, Simmons (Jr., Portsmouth, Ohio)
Theresa Reinhard, Simmons (So., Canton, Ohio)
Aidiana Sagyndykova, Suffolk (So., Almaty, Kazakhstan)
First Team Doubles
Samantha Jo Borr / Morgan Thompson, Johnson & Wales
Second Team Singles
Nicole Goudreau, Anna Maria (Sr., Harrisville, R.I.)
Emily Glass, Johnson & Wales (Jr., Sterling, Conn.)
Morgan Thompson, Johnson & Wales (So., Fargo, N.D.)
Cathy Baker, Simmons (So., Simsbury, Conn.)
Han DK Le, Simmons (Fr., Tra Vinh, Vietnam)
Rebecca Eshoo, Suffolk (Jr., Farmington, Conn.)
Second Team Doubles
Meg Cokely / Theresa Reinhard, Simmons
Player of the Year – Aidiana Sagyndykova, Suffolk
Rookie of the Year – Han DK Le, Simmons
Co-Coaches of the Year – Bob Rauseo, Simmons / Adam Williamson, Anna Maria
Institutional Sportsmanship Award – Saint Joseph (CT)
All-Sportsmanship Team
Malika Grant, Albertus Magnus (Sr., Brooklyn, N.Y.)
Nicola Zamira, Anna Maria (Fr., Mashpee, Mass.)
Gabrielle Longo, Johnson & Wales (Sr., Philadelphia, Pa.)
Danielle Barnabe, Mount Ida (So., Warwick, R.I.)
Lisa Wawrzynowski, Saint Joseph (CT) (Sr., Newington, Conn.)
Caroline Khoury, Simmons (Jr., Portsmouth, Ohio)
Adrianna Garret, Suffolk (Sr., Plymouth, Mass.)
All-Tournament Team
Nicola Zamira, Anna Maria (Fr., Mashpee, Mass.)
Samantha Jo Borr, Johnson & Wales (Sr., Westfield, N.J.)
Stephanie Piperis, Johnson & Wales (Sr., Yorktown Heights, N.Y.)
Meg Cokely, Simmons (Jr., Haverhill, Mass.)
Katie Crowley, Simmons (Jr., Reading, Mass.)
Theresa Reinhard, Simmons (So., Canton, Ohio)
Aidiana Sagyndykova, Suffolk (So., Almaty, Kazakstahn)
Tournament Most Valuable Player – Katie Crowley, Simmons
– #theGNAC –