TENNIS TEAM UPSETS JWU; EMMANUEL ADVANCES TO GNAC SEMIFINALS
Oct. 21, 2009
Providence, R.I. - The 5th-seeded Emmanuel Women's Tennis Team upended the 4th-seeded Wildcats of Johnson & Wales University, 5-4, on Wednesday afternoon in the Quarterfinals of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Tournament. The Saints rebounded from a 6-3 loss to the Wildcats just four days earlier to take the rematch and effectively oust Johnson & Wales from the post-season tournament. The tournament win for Emmanuel at the Moses Brown Tennis Courts in Providence, R.I. boosted the Saints' record to 11-4 on the season. Emmanuel will now advance to take on top-seeded Simmons College on Friday afternoon.
Johnson & Wales held a 2-1 lead after the doubles competition, including a 9-7 win by senior Amber Dea (Honey Brook, Pa.) and sophomore Dana Trimborn (North Wales, Pa.) at No. 3 doubles. The duo topped Emmanuel juniors Brianna Murphy (Wilbraham, Mass.) and Taylor Kelly (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.). Dea also posted a come from behind 0-6, 6-2, 6-1 win at No. 5 singles over Emmanuel's Alexandra Shakra (Bedford, N.H.).
In the singles competition, Emmanuel took four of the six matches. The Saints tied the score at 3-3 with singles play before taking the 5-4 match victory. Three of the singles matches went the full three sets.
Freshman Taylor Dey (Woodbridge, Conn.) knocked off Haley Nutter for the second time in a week, winning 7-5, 6-2, to give the Saints a point at 1st singles. Saints senior co-captain Nory Hayes (Newport, R.I.) recorded a pair of wins for Emmanuel, posting a 6-0, 6-3 win at second singles and an 8-4 win at second doubles with junior Catherine Dunphy (Duxbury, Mass.).
Emmanuel notched another singles win in the 3rd position, as junior Megan Harrington (Leceister, Mass.) rebounded from Saturday's loss to Laura Schwenk. Harrington recorded a huge three-set win over Schwenk, 6-4, 0-6, 6-2, bringing the match score to 4-4.
The fifth and deciding point for the Saints came in the fourth singles match. After falling to the same opponent last Saturday, 6-4, 6-2, Emmanuel freshman Jenna Reid (Lincoln, R.I.) defeated JWU's Dana Trimborn, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, giving Emmanuel its 5th point and the match win.
With the loss Johnson & Wales, ends its season at 6-7 overall, while Emmanuel improves to 11-4 and advances to the GNAC Semifinals. Emmanuel will now take on Colleges of the Fenway rival, Simmons College, on Friday, October 23rd, for a trip to the conference championship. The match between the Saints and the Sharks will be played at the Winsor School, site of the home courts for both teams. The match is scheduled to begin at 3:30pm