Suffolk, USJ Advances to GNAC Women's Tennis Tournament Semifinals

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The 2016 GNAC Women's Tennis Tournament got underway on Wednesday afternoon, as fourth-seeded University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) blanked fifth-seeded Alberuts Magnus College, 5-0, and third-seeded Suffolk University defeated sixth-seeded Mount Ida College, also by a 5-0 score.

#4 USJ 5, #5 ALBERTUS 0 - BOX
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - The No. 4 seeded University of Saint Joseph tennis team shut out the No. 5 seeded Albertus Magus Falcons, 9-0, in the GNAC Tennis Tournament First Round on Wednesday hosted by the Blue Jays. With the victory the Blue Jays move on to the semifinal round for the second straight year. They will play the No. 1 seed Johnson & Wales on Saturday, Oct. 22 at the Winchester Tennis Center at 2 p.m.

In a rematch where the Blue Jays blanked the Falcons just four days prior in their final regular season match of the season, USJ picked up right where it left off and earned their second straight 9-0 victory over the Falcons in the opening round of the GNAC Tennis Tournament on Wednesday. USJ got to work quickly and swept doubles play to build an early 3-0 lead and never looked back.

Senior Rebecca Mauri (Meriden, CT) and sophomore Lucy Roberge (Willington, CT) made quick work of their opponents at No. 1 doubles and earned an 8-1 eight-game pro-set victory. USJ's No. 2 doubles team of sophomores Sakinah Abdulsalam (Bristol, CT/Bristol Eastern) and Ashley Savino (Old Saybrook, CT/Old Saybrook) followed with an 8-5 victory before freshman Domonique Carnot (Meriden, CT) and sophomore Leah Nguyen (West Hartford, CT) closed out the doubles sweep with an 8-4 win.

In singles action, junior Tara Smith (Palmer, MA) and No. 5 singles and Savino at No. 4 singles finished first as they both blanked their opponents in straight sets 6-0, 6-0 to gaurentee the Blue Jays the victory and a spot in the semifinals against Johnson & Wales on Saturday. Carnot (No. 6), Abdusalam (No. 3), Roberge (No. 2) and Mauri (No. 1) completed the sweep.

Carnot defeated her opponent 6-0, 6-1, while Abdulsalam and Roberge won their matches in straight sets 6-0, 6-2 and 6-1, 6-3, respectively. In her final home match of her career, Mauri, the Blue Jays lone senior, capped off her career in a three-set thriller. Mauri dropped the opening set 3-6 before battling back and winning the second set 6-4. She then went on and dominated the third set tiebreak, 10-1, to complete the sweep.

The USJ tennis team will now move on to the semifinal round of the GNAC Tennis Tournament where they will face the No. 1 seed Johnson & Wales. The match will take place at 2 p.m. at the Winchester Tennis Center in Winchester, MA.

Courtesy of USJ Athletics Communications.

#3 SUFFOLK 5, #6 MOUNT IDA 0 - BOX
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The five-days between meetings of the Rams and Mustangs did not change the results as the third-seeded Suffolk women's tennis team swept six seed Mount Ida, 5-0, in the quarterfinals of the GNAC tournament, Buckingham, Browne & Nichols to advance to the semifinals. 

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 5, Mount Ida 0
RECORDS: Suffolk (9-8) | Mount Ida (1-11)

HOW IT HAPPENED
Suffolk swept the doubles courts using two golden matches and posted back-to-back golden matches on courts three and four in singles play to lock up the 5-0 quarterfinals decision. 

SUFFOLK STANDOUTS

• Aidiana Sagyndykova and Elena Cisernos Garcia got the day going with an 8-0 decision over Katlyn Jess and Yuliana Chairez in the second spot. 
• Christina Texidor and Eugenia Skorobogatov locked up a 2-0 Suffolk lead thanks to a golden match on cour thtree against Amanda Garner and Hannah Bassett. 
• Valentina Medina and Isabel Rathlev's 8-6 win on court one over Jenna Jarman and Rebecca Levy sent the Rams into singles action with a 3-0 advantage. 
• Skorobogatov put Suffolk ahead 4-0 with a golden victory on court three against Jesse.
• Cisneros Garcia clinched the victory with a  golden match, defeating Chariez in the fourth position. 

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk will make its eighth GNAC semifinals appearance and fourth thanks to a quarterfinals win. 
• The Rams meet and swept Mount Ida in the conference quarterfinals for the third time. 
• The quarterfinals cleansheet is the fourth in Suffolk's post-season appearance history, with all four of the Rams' advancing wins coming in sweeping fashion. 
• Suffolk remains unbeaten in the quarterfinals as the three seed, moving to 4-0. 

UP NEXT
Suffolk advances to the semifinals where it will meet second-seeded Simmons Saturday, Oct. 22 at 4:30 p.m. at the Winchester Tennis Center.