Women's Tennis Edges USJ, 5-4, in GNAC Tournament Thriller

EAST HARTFORD, Conn.—The Anna Maria College women's tennis won a 5-4 thriller against the University of Saint Joseph in Wednesday's Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) First Round match at the East Hartford Racquet Club.

The win bumps the AMCATS to 5-8 overall.

The AMCATS trailed 2-1 after doubles play and fell behind 3-1 after the Blue Jays took a win at No. 4 singles. From there, the AMATS rallied to take a 4-3 lead following wins by Callie Mulcahy (Charlton, Mass.) No. 5 singles, Nicola Zamira (Mashpee, Mass.) at No. 3 singles, and Nicole Goudreau (Harrisville, R.I.) at No. 2 singles.

The Blue Jays evened the score again at 4-4 with a 6-0, 6-1 win by Monica Palmieri at No. 6 singles.

With the match on the line and trailing after a 6-2 loss in the first set, Anna Maria's Jessica Gautieri (North Attleboro, Mass.) rallied for a 6-1 win in the second set to force a third. The set was close and required extra points, but Gautieri ultimately prevailed with a 7-5 win to seal the match.

Gautieri and Goudreau teamed up at No. 1 doubles and forced tiebreaker points but ultimately took the loss. The AMCATS' lone doubles win came from Zamira and Mulcahy at No. 2 doubles with an 8-2 win. Edelson and Leonard fell 8-0 to Lisa Wawrzynowski and Palmieri at No. 3 doubles.

The win was a rematch of last week's regular season meeting between the two schools, which USJ won by a score of 7-2.

The match was the third-straight win for the AMCATS, who advance to take on top-seeded Simmons on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. in the GNAC Semifinals.