PREVIEW: No. 5 Women's Tennis Travels to No. 4 USJ for GNAC First Round
OVERVIEW
The fifth-seeded Anna Maria College women's tennis team travels to No. 4 University of Saint Joseph today for the first round of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) tournament.
WHAT'S AT STAKE
The winner of today's match advances to the semifinals on Saturday, October 25th at 2:00 p.m. and will take on top-ranked Simmons. Both the semifinal rounds and the championship match will be hosted at the Winchester Indoor Tennis Center in Winchester, Mass.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
The Blue Jays of USJ and the AMCATS met last week for their annual regular-season meeting, and the Blue Jays escaped with a 7-2 win.
The AMCATS recorded wins at No. 2 singles and No. 3 singles—senior Nicole Goudreau (Harrisville, R.I.) won at No. 2 singles against Amanda Willhoft in tiebreaker points, as she won the opening set 7-5, fell 6-4 in the second set, and came back for a convincing 10-7 win in the tiebreaker.
Freshman Nicola Zamira (Mashpee, Mass.) won her pairing at No. 3 singles against Meghan Toth by scores of 6-4, 6-2.
HOW IT WILL HAPPEN
Today's match will be played to decision, meaning that once one team wins five games, the match will conclude. Doubles will be played first, therefore putting a heavy emphasis on doubles play.
SCOUTING TODAY'S DOUBLES PAIRINGS
The Blue Jays won all three doubles pairings when the two teams met on Oct. 13. The duo of Rebecca Mauri and Meghan Toth downed the AMCATS' pair of Jessica Gautieri (North Attleboro, Mass.) and Nicola Zamira in a hard-fought 9-7 win at No. 1 doubles.
At No. 2 doubles, Amanda Willholf and Emely Chenard downed Nicole Goudreau and Katelyn Edelson (Berlin, Conn.) 8-2, while the No. 3 doubles tandem of Lisa Wawrznoewski and Monica Palmieri took an 8-3 win against Callie Mulcahy (Charlton, Mass.) and Marrissa Leonard (Billerica, Mass.).
AMCATS' SINGLES
Gautieri has battled an ankle injury but will likely hit the court in the No. 1 singles slot. She holds a 4-6 record in the position on the season.
Goudreau has been very strong for the AMCATS in recent weeks at No. 2 singles, as she enters today's match on a three-win streak and has totaled a 6-4 record in the slot over the course of the season.
Zamira has consistently been the AMCATS' choice at No. 3 singles this season, as she has built at 5-5 record in the position. She enters today's tournament match on a three-win streak and holds a 3-3 record in the slot against GNAC opponents.
Katelyn Edelson has settled into the No. 4 singles slot after seeing time at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions early in the season. She holds a 4-3 record in the fourth slot and has won both of her last two pairings.
A pair of newcomers in Callie Mulcahy and Marrissa Leonard have seen time in the bottom two slots. Mulcahy holds a 5-2 record at No. 5 singles and also played five matches at No. 4 singles this season, while Leonard was winless in five matches at No. 5 singles but has registered two wins at No. 6 singles late this season.
