By Kate Joseph
Staff Writer

Simmons College Tennis defeated the Johnson & Wales Wildcats Sunday afternoon to clinch their sixth consecutive Great Northeast Athletic Conference Championship.

The Sharks started off strong in doubles. In first doubles, Meghan Cokely and Margaret Teague dominated JWU’s Samantha Jo Borr and Ansley Sego 8-1.

“We focused a lot on doubles in practice,” said Teague, who was named tournament MVP and GNAC player of the week. “Throughout the match we were all encouraging one another, cheering each other on from a few courts down. It felt good to be supported, and to give support.”

The Wildcats were able to gain one point in second doubles when Darcy Predieri and Morgan Thompson defeated Simmons’ Theresa Reinhard and Sofie Epshtein 9-7.

In the no. 3 spot, Rachael Downey and Kristi Mielbye took down Gabrielle Longo and Emily Glass 8-2.

“I was not nervous going into the championship because of the talent we have on the team,” said Mielbye. “I knew we would play our hardest [until] the end, and that’s exactly what we did.”

Simmons continued the meet with a solid performance in singles.

In the no. 1 spot, Teague outplayed Jo Borr 6-2, 6-4. Second singles featured Reinhard topping Thompson 6-4, 6-0. Cokely racked up another point by defeating Piperis 6-3, 6-1. Cathy Baker finished off singles with a win over Vicky Riccardi 6-4, 6-1.

“Every time we stepped on the court at practice we all had one goal in mind and it was to win the GNAC championship,” said Cokely. “We were able to constantly push and encourage each other to succeed. We needed to keep our record of five consecutive GNAC wins going strong, but I was always reminded that with our team anything was possible.”

The Sharks completed their fall season with an overall record of 12-2 and 6-0 in the conference

“I am extremely proud of this team,” said Head Coach Bob Rauseo. “Despite being so young, they were extremely disciplined from the outset. Half of our singles starters were first-years but they adapted to college tennis quickly and handled the pressure situations like upperclass players.”

Sharks Tennis will return May 9 to compete in the 2014 NCAA Division III Tennis Championship tournament.