Simmons Unanimous Top Choice in GNAC Women's Tennis Preseason Poll
Simmons, which will look to capture its eighth straight GNAC title this fall, has been unanimously selected atop the 2015 Preseason Coaches’ Poll.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sharks seeking eighth
straight GNAC Tournament title
WINTHROP, Mass. – Simmons College, which will look to capture its eighth straight Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Women’s Tennis Championship this fall, has been unanimously selected atop the 2015 Preseason Coaches’ Poll, the league office announced on Friday morning.
The Sharks received seven of a possible seven first-place votes and 49 points overall in the poll. Last year’s GNAC Tournament runner-up Johnson & Wales University placed second with 40 points, while Suffolk University took the third spot with 37 points.
Making up the remainder of the preseason ledger was the University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) with 28 points, Anna Maria with 19 points, Mount Ida College with 14 points and Albertus Magnus College with nine points.
Save for a Suffolk conference crown back in 2007, Simmons has claimed every GNAC Tournament title since 2004, claiming the hardware 10 times over the last 11 years.
Amidst this current seven-year run, Simmons has won 52 straight regular-season conference matches dating back to the 2008 campaign. The Sharks went a perfect 6-0 in conference play last fall before downing Anna Maria College and JWU in the GNAC semifinals and title match, respectively.
Simmons went on to defeat Plymouth State this past May in the first round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to tennis powerhouse Middlebury.
The six-team 2015 GNAC Tournament will get underway with first-round action on Wednesday, October 21 at higher seeds. The top two seeds will receive a bye into the semifinals on Saturday, Oct. 24 at the Winchester Indoor Lawn Tennis Center in Winchester, Mass., the same venue as last year’s GNAC Championship site. The conference title match will take place on Sunday, Oct. 25, also at Winchester.
Founded in 1995, the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 12 member institutions and over 3,000 student-athletes across the New England region. Each year, the GNAC sponsors and administers 17 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunities and community involvement.
2015 GNAC Women's Tennis Preseason Coaches' Poll
1. Simmons (7) - 49
2. Johnson & Wales - 40
3. Suffolk - 37
4. St. Joseph (Conn.) - 28
5. Anna Maria - 19
6. Mount Ida - 14
7. Albertus Magnus - 9
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