FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WINCHESTER, Mass. – In the semifinals of the 2015 GNAC Women's Tennis Tournament on Saturday afteroon, top-seeded Simmons College blanked fourth-seeded University of Saint Joseph (Conn.), 5-0, and third-seeded Johnson & Wales University took down second-seeded Suffolk University, 5-4, at the Winchester Indoor Tennis Center.

Simmons and JWU will now square off on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. in the GNAC title match, with an automatic NCAA berth at stake.

#1 SIMMONS 5, #4 USJ 0
Seniors Meg Cokely (Haverhill, Mass.) and Rachael Downey (Groveland, Mass.) were double winners in Simmons' 5-0 victory over USJ on Saturday. 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.

#3 JWU 5, #2 SUFFOLK 4
With a spot in the finals of the GNAC Tournament on the line, Johnson & Wales University women's tennis player Samantha Gambino stepped up for her teammates. The junior swept her third set to send the Wildcats into Sunday's championship match.

The victory moves JWU into the title match against Simmons at 12:30 p.m. The Sharks won the regular season match-up, 7-2.

"This was a great team victory," JWU coach Devin Kitterick said. "Our girls battled for every point and stay together. It was a huge team win to beat the number two team in the conference."

Gambino (Middletown, Conn.) dropped her first set to Isabel Rathlev, 4-6, at number five but rallied to win the next two sets 6-2, 6-0 to give the Wildcats the deciding point. After dropping two of the three doubles points, Johnson & Wales rallied to win four singles bouts.

The Rams took a 3-1 lead when Valentina Medina topped Emily Glass (Sterling, Conn.) 6-1, 6-0 at number two. JWU pulled even as Delaney Macchirole (Greenport, NY) downed Elena Cisneros at number six, 6-0, 6-1 and Taylor Klein (Johnson, NY) beat Rebecca Eshoo 6-1, 6-1 at number three.

Freshman Lauren Torre (New Fairfield, Conn.) put the Wildcats ahead by beating Abby Trigilio 6-0, 6-3 at number four. Suffolk tied the match when Aidana Sagyndkova beat Morgan Thompson (Fargo, ND), 6-2, 7-5 at number one before Gambino won the deciding match.

Johnson & Wales quickly claimed the first doubles point when Klein and Torre topped Lyndsay Reese and Rathlev, 8-0 at number three. The Rams got their first point, 8-2, at number one when Sagyndkova and Eshoo beat Thompson and Victoria Pizzulo (Lafayette, NJ). Glass and Maccirole were up 4-3 before Medina and Trigilio won five-straight games to take the match. 

Info Provided by Simmons & JWU Athletics Communications.

Wednesday, Oct. 21 - First Round | RECAP
Match 1: #4 St. Joseph (Conn.) 8, #5 Albertus Magnus 1 | BOX
Match 2: #3 Johnson & Wales 5, #6 Mount Ida 0 | BOX

Saturday, Oct. 24 - Semifinals (at Winchester Tennis Center)
Match 3: #1 Simmons 5, #4 St. Joseph (Conn.) 0 | BOX
Match 4: #3 Johnson & Wales 5, #2 Suffolk 4 | BOX