AMHERST, Mass.-- Junior Kellie Sturma (Newman, Ga.) and sophomore Kaitlynn Cates (Middlebury, Conn.) enjoyed solid performances for the Suffolk women’s tennis team at the 2007 New England Championships hosted by Amherst College on Saturday afternoon.

Cates advanced to the quarterfinals of the #2 singles flight for the Rams, posting a pair of victories over Salve Regina’s Jessica Timpano in the first round and upending third-seeded Trish Devine of Wellesley in the second round before falling to Bowdoin’s Brett Davis, while Sturma notched a three set win in the opening round of the #1 singles flight over Salve Regina’s Louise Taylor before falling to Brandeis’ Rachel Rosman in the second round. Sturma and Cates combined to reach the quarterfinals at the #1 doubles flight for Suffolk, as they defeated tandems from Babson and Connecticut College before falling to MIT.

Senior Jen Nelson (Newburyport, Mass.) advanced to the second round at the #3 singles flight as well for the Rams, as she posted a straight-set win over Nichols’ Emily Levine before falling to Bowdoin’s Rachel Waldman.

Suffolk, the regular season champions of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference, returns to action next Saturday when the Rams will be the top seed in the upcoming GNAC tournament and will play a league semi-final round match against a to-be-determined opponent.