FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ENC, JWU to battle for GNAC
crown Sunday at Winchester
2 EASTERN NAZARENE 5, #3 REGIS 2
WINCHESTER, Mass. – The No. 2 seed Eastern Nazarene College women's tennis team topped third-seed Regis 5-2 Saturday afternoon in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Tournament semifinals at the Winchester Indoor Tennis Center.
The Lions improve to 11-2 and advance to their first-ever GNAC Tournament championship match Sunday against top-seeded Johnson & Wales at the Winchester Indoor Tennis Center. The Pride finished the fall with a 9-3 overall record.
Eastern Nazarene established a 2-1 lead after posting a pair of doubles victories.
Emily Ruttkowski (Castrop-Rauxel, Germany) and Magdalena Hubel (Berlin, Germany) downed Carly Donovan and Ariana McCormack 8-4 at the No. 1 doubles spot.
Sharon Biondi (Barquisimeto, Venezuela) and Veronica Jimenez (Lynn, Mass.) rolled past Ginger Boodakian and Katelyn Mogelnicki at the No. 2 position 8-2.
Makayla Grantham (Apalachian, N.Y.) and Maria Busila (Malaga, Spain) dropped a narrow 8-7 decision at the third slot against Lauren Mogelnicki and Kaitlyn Colby.
The Lions notched three singles victories to secure the win and advance to Sunday's GNAC Finals.
Busila cruised to a 6-0, 6-1 victory at the No. 5 singles position before Biondi captured a 6-3, 6-1 win at the No. 1 spot over Donovan.
Ruttkowski improved to 12-0 in singles action as she clinched the match with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over McCormack at the No. 2 slot.
Grantham absorbed a 6-0, 6-1 loss at the sixth position to Kaeleigh FitzPatrick.
When the match was decided, Hubel and Jimenez were in the second sets at the third and fourth singles spots, respectively.
Eastern Nazarene will return to the Winchester Indoor Tennis Center October 20 to face top-seeded Johnson & Wales in the GNAC Tournament Finals at 12:30pm.
Courtesy of ENC Athletics Communications.
#1 JWU 5, #4 SIMMONS 0
WINCHESTER, Mass. – For the 13th time in program history, the women's tennis team is headed to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) championship. After a first-round bye in the GNAC tournament, JWU cruised to a 5-0 victory over Simmons University in the semi-finals.
Records:
JWU: 13-1, 8-0 GNAC
SU: 8-8, 4-4 GNAC
Of Note:
Senior Kat Ledesma and first-year doubles partner Sydney Constantinidi earned the first Wildcat victory of the day with an 8-3 win in doubles play while first-year Emily Hill and sophomore doubles partner Kourtney Moore grabbed an 8-0 win. Junior Claire Parry and sophomore doubles partner Drew Bobey won 8-3 to give JWU a 3-0 lead heading into singles play.
Moore extended the Wildcats lead with a 6-3, 6-3 win to open up singles. Parry closed out the match for the Wildcats with a 6-2, 6-1 win to send JWU to the GNAC finals.
Up Next:
The Wildcats will face Eastern Nazarene in the semifinal on Sunday, October 20 at 12:30 p.m. at Winchester Tennis Club, after the Lions defeated Regis, 5-2, in Saturday's second semi at Winchester.
Courtesy of JWU Athletics Communications.