WOMEN'S TENNIS: Colby-Sawyer's Yang Earns Second Straight GNAC Player of the Year Honor

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

GNAC unveils All-Conference
Teams and major award winners

WINTHROP, Mass. – For the second straight season, Colby-Sawyer College's Yashu Yang has been selected as the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Women's Tennis Player of the Year, as voted upon by the league's eight head coaches.

A junior for the Chargers, the repeat winner Yang went a perfect 7-0 at No. 1 singles and 12-0 overall in the fall season. The tandem of Yang and senior Alexa Conlin was also voted All-GNAC First Team Doubles, while Conlin received All-GNAC Second Team Singles honors.

From Johnson & Wales University, freshman Emily Hill was named the 2019 GNAC Rookie of the Year after going 10-2 overall and 6-1 against GNAC competition at No. 2 Singles for the Wildcats.

Hill was also a 2019 GNAC All-Conference First Team Singles selection, alongside junior teammate Claire Parry, who went 11-3 overall and 6-1 versus GNAC foes, all at No. 1 Singles.

JWU head coach Devin Kitterick was voted the GNAC Coach of the Year by his fellow head coaches, as the Wildcats went undefeated (7-0) in conference play and placed three student-athletes on the All-Conference teams. The individual honor is the second straight and third in four years for Kitterick.

Eastern Nazarene College senior Sharon Biondi and junior Emily Ruttkowski joined Yang, Hill and Parry on First Team Singles, as the pair helped lead the Lions to their first-ever GNAC Championship this past weekend.

Down 4-3 to top-seeded JWU in the conference title match on Sunday, Biondi topped Parry and Ruttkowski defeated Hill to clinch the ENC victory and a trip to the NCAA Division III Tournament in the spring.

This fall during the regular season, Biondi went 5-2 (11-3 overall) in the GNAC at No. 1 Singles, while Ruttkowski was a perfect 6-0 (13-0 overall) in the league at No. 2 Singles.

Regis College sophomore Katelyn Mogelnicki took home the final spot on First Team Singles, as she went 7-0 in GNAC play in singles action and 10-0 overall combined at No. 2/3 Singles.

In addition to Colby-Sawyer's Conlin, selected to the All-GNAC Second Team Singles were JWU sophomore Kourtney Moore, Regis junior Carly Donovan, Regis senior Ariana McCormack, Simmons University senior Marissa Johnson, and Suffolk University sophomore Ilda Ascic.

The Regis tandem of Donovan and McCormack garnered Second Team Doubles accolades after going 4-2 at No. 1 Doubles for the Pride.

The GNAC also announced the University of Saint Joseph (CT) as the institutional sportsmanship award winner in women's tennis, as well as the 2019 All-Sportsmanship Team in the sport. For those selections, please see below.

With Suffolk exiting the GNAC as a core member beginning with the 2020-21 academic year, Lesley University will enter the GNAC next fall as a women's tennis associate member, keeping the league at eight sponsoring schools.

First Team Singles
Yashu Yang, Colby-Sawyer (Jr. - Kunming City, China)
Sharon Biondi , Eastern Nazarene (Sr. - Barquisimeto, Venezuela)
Emily Ruttkowski , Eastern Nazarene Jr. - Castrop-Rauxel
Emily Hill, Johnson & Wales (Fr. - Wilmington, Mass.)
Claire Parry, Johnson & Wales (Jr. - Westport, Conn.)
Katelyn Mogelnicki, Regis (So. - Wethersfield , Conn.)

First Team Doubles
Yashu Yang / Alexa Conlin, Colby-Sawyer

Second Team Singles
Alexa Conlin, Colby-Sawyer (Sr. - Westborough, Mass.)
Kourtney Moore, Johnson & Wales (So. - Roswell, Ga.)
Carly Donovan, Regis (Jr. - Harwich, Mass.)
Ariana McCormack, Regis (Sr. - Worcester, Mass.)
Marissa Johnson, Simmons  (Sr. – Norton, Mass.)
Ilda Ascic, Suffolk (So. - Sarajevo, Bosnia)

Second Team Doubles
Carly Donovan / Ariana McCormack, Regis

GNAC Player of the Year – Yashu Yang, Colby-Sawyer
GNAC Rookie of the Year – Emily Hill, Johnson & Wales
GNAC Coach of the Year – Devin Kitterick, Johnson & Wales
GNAC Institutional Sportsmanship Award – Saint Joseph (CT)

2019 GNAC All-Sportsmanship Team
Nallely Magana, Albertus Magnus (Sr – East Haven, Conn.)
Juliet Henderson, Colby-Sawyer (So. – Swanzey, N.H.)
Veronica Jimenez, Eastern Nazarene (Sr. – Lynn, Mass.)
Kat Ledesma, Johnson & Wales (Jr. – Coral Springs, Fla.)
Kait Colby, Regis (So. – Merrimac, Mass.)
Elaina Griffiths, Saint Joseph (CT) (Fr. – Guilford, Conn.)
Carrie St. Peter, Simmons (Jr. – Chester, N.H.)
Kendall Smith, Suffolk (So. – Stuttgart, Germany)

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 20 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunity and community involvement in an effort to enhance the student-athlete experience. 

– #TheGNAC –