FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WINTHROP, Mass. – With its 9-0 win over Anna Maria College on Saturday evening, Johnson & Wales University (RI) has secured the top seed in next week's 2016 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Women's Tennis Tournament. Both JWU and second-seeded Simmons College earn first-round byes into the neutral-site Final Four next Saturday and Sunday at the Winchester Indoor Tennis Center in Winchester, Mass.
JWU, Simmons and Suffolk University all went 1-1 against each other druing the regular season and finished with matching 5-1 records in GNAC play, however JWU earned the tiebreaker to grab the top seed. Simmons claims the second seed by virtue of its 5-4 head-to-head win over Suffolk last month, meaning Suffolk will host sixth-seeded Mount Ida College on Wednesday at 5:00 PM in a GNAC first-round contest. That winner will take on Simmons (4:30 PM) on Saturday in the semis.
Wednesday's other first-round contest will feature fifth-seeded Albertus Magnus College traveling to fourth-seeded University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) at 3:00 PM. That winner will take on top seed JWU Saturday in Winchester at 2:00 PM.
Sunday's final will get underway at 12:30 PM. All GNAC Tournament contests will be played to decision.
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 opportunities and community involvement.
Wednesday, October 19 - First Round
Match 1: #6 Mount Ida at #3 Suffolk - 6:00 PM (at Buckingham Browne & Nichols)
Match 2: #5 Albertus Magnus at #4 Saint Joseph (Conn.) - 3:00 PM
Saturday, October 22 - Semifinals (at Winchester Tennis Center)
Match 3: Match 2 winner vs. #1 Johnson & Wales - 2:00 PM
Match 4: Match 1 winner vs. #2 Simmons - 4:30 PM
Sunday, October 23 - Final (at Winchester Tennis Center)
Match 5: Match 3 winner vs. Match 4 winner - 12:30 PM
– #TheGNAC –