JWU Sophomore Nina Cohen Voted GNAC Women's Tennis Player of the Year

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Cohen earns All-GNAC First Team
Singles and First Team Doubles honors

WINTHROP, Mass. – Johnson & Wales University sophomore Nina Cohen has been selected as the 2017 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Women's Tennis Player of the Year, as voted upon by the league's head coaches.

Cohen was a First Team Singles honoree and also collected All-GNAC First Team Doubles honors with junior teammate Delaney Macchirole. The tandem has gone 13-2 at No. 1 Doubles and 6-0 in GNAC play for the Wildcats. On her own, Cohen posted a 12-3 overall mark at No. 1 Singles, including 6-0 in league matches.

JWU junior Lauren Torre joined Cohen on the First Team, along with the Regis (Mass.) trio of freshman Carly Donovan, junior Katasha Jarvis and sophomore Carly Scanlon, and Suffolk University junior Delaney Dunlap.

Regis' Donovan was also voted the GNAC Rookie of the Year, as the freshman posted a 6-2 overall mark at No. 1 Singles in the Pride's inaugural year in the conference, including a 4-1 record in GNAC play. Donovan was also a GNAC All-Tournament Team selection this past weekend, which saw JWU capture its second straight title and Simmons appear in its 14th straight conference final.

University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) second-year head coach Karen Piazza was voted the 2017 GNAC Coach of the Year amongst her peers. The USJ Blue Jays were also recognized as this year's GNAC Institutional Sportsmanship Award team winner.

First Team Singles
Nina Cohen, Johnson & Wales (So., Guatemala City, Guatemala)
Lauren Torre, Johnson & Wales (Jr., New Fairfield, Conn.)
Carly Donovan, Regis (Mass.) (Fr., Harwich, Mass.)
Katasha Jarvis, Regis (Mass.) (Jr., Mt. Vernon, N.Y.)
Carly Scanlon, Regis (Mass.) (So., Canton, Mass.)
Delaney Dunlap, Suffolk (Jr., Hingham, Mass.)

First Team Doubles
Nina Cohen / Delaney Macchirole, Johnson & Wales

Second Team Singles
Madison Hernandez, Johnson & Wales (So., Phoenix, Ariz.)
Delaney Macchirole, Johnson & Wales (Jr., Greenport, N.Y.)
Ariana McCormack, Regis (Mass.) (So., Worcester, Mass.)
Nickie Nguyen, Simmons (So., Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam)
Jessica Schroedl, Simmons (So., Staatsburg, N.Y.)
Celia Speth, Simmons (Fr., Deerfield, Mass.)

Second Team Doubles
Marissa Johnson (So., Norwell, Mass.) / Nickie Nguyen, Simmons

Player of the Year – Nina Cohen, Johnson & Wales
Rookie of the Year – Carly Donovan, Regis (Mass.)
Coach of the Year – Karen Piazza, Saint Joseph (Conn.)
Institutional Sportsmanship Award – Saint Joseph (Conn.)

All-Sportsmanship Team
Paige Williams, Albertus Magnus
Gabriella Velazquez, Johnson & Wales
Amanda Garner, Mount Ida
Gracie Jarest, Regis (Mass.)
Leah Nguyen, Saint Joseph (Conn.)
Olivia Lakes, Simmons
Elena Cisneros Garcia, Suffolk

Founded in 1995, the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 13 member institutions and over 3,000 student-athletes across the New England region. Each year, the GNAC sponsors and administers 20 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunities and community involvement. 

– #TheGNAC –