WOMEN'S TENNIS: JWU Looking to Rise Back to GNAC Frontrunner, Tops Preseason Poll

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JWU won back-to-back
GNAC titles in 2016-17 

WINTHROP, Mass. – After capturing back-to-back league titles in 2016 and 2017, Johnson & Wales University was dethroned last year by Colby-Sawyer College in the GNAC Women's Tennis Tournament Championship, falling 5-0 to the Chargers. Nonetheless, the Wildcats will look to get back on top as they were selected first overall in the 2019 GNAC Preseason Poll, as voted upon by the league's head coaches.

JWU garnered three first-place votes and 58 points overall to lead the way in the annual poll, followed by Regis College in second place with 50 points overall and one first-place nod. Associate member Eastern Nazarene College finished third with one top tally and 49 points, while defending GNAC champ Colby-Sawyer took the fourth spot with 46 points, including three first-place nods. 

Rounding out the top-five was longtime GNAC women's tennis power Simmons University with 46 points, which won 11 GNAC titles in 12 years from 2004-15, including eight straight beginning in 2008.

Making up the remainder of the poll included Suffolk University with 25 points, University of Saint Joseph (CT) with 20 points, and Albertus Magnus College with nine points. 

While Johnson & Wales will open up its 2019 campaign on Friday, August 30 at Curry, some crucial GNAC regular-season matches throughout the fall will include: Regis at ENC on September 14, ENC at Colby-Sawyer on Sept. 18, ENC at JWU on Sept. 21, JWU at Regis on Sept. 28, and JWU at Colby-Sawyer on Oct. 12.

The GNAC Tournament will culiminate on Saturday-Sunday, October 19-20 with the semifinals and final at the Winchester Indoor Tennis Center in Winchester, Mass. The top-two seeds will receive first-round byes into the neutral-site final-four, while the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds will host playoff contests on campus on Wednesday, Oct. 16.

The 2019 GNAC champion will earn the conference's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Tournament in the spring of 2020. 

2019 GNAC Women's Tennis Preseason Poll
1. Johnson & Wales (3) - 58
2. Regis (1) - 50
3. Eastern Nazarene (1) - 49
4. Colby-Sawyer (3) - 46
5. Simmons - 31
6. Suffolk - 25
7. Saint Joseph (CT) - 20
8. Albertus Magnus - 9

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. Founded in 1995, the GNAC annually sponsors and administers 22 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunity and community involvement in an effort to enhance the student-athlete experience. 

– #TheGNAC –