CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-- Top-seeded Suffolk advanced to the championship round of the 2007 Great Northeast Athletic Conference Women’s Tennis Championships by posting an 8-1 victory over fifth-seeded Emmanuel in league semi-final round play Saturday afternoon on the Buckingham, Browne & Nichols Courts. 

Senior Jen Nelson (Newburyport, Mass.), junior Kellie Sturma (Newman, Ga.) and sophomores Kaitlynn Cates (Middlebury, Conn.) and Catarina Rosa (Fall River, Mass.) were winners in both singles and doubles play for the host and regular season champion Rams, who improve to 13-0 on the season and will take on either second-seeded Simmons or third-seeded Johnson & Wales for the conference tournament crown on Sunday evening at the Weymouth Club in Weymouth, Mass. beginning at 6:00 p.m.

Freshmen Alex Hernandez (Newton, Mass.) and Rachael Troia (North Providence, R.I.) also notched straight set singles victories for Suffolk, as the tandems of Sturma/Cates and Nelson/Rosa collected wins at the numbers one and two doubles spots, respectively, for the Rams.

Senior Megan Barrows (West Springfield, Mass.) and sophomore Caitrin Dunn (Toms River, N.J.) teamed up for an 8-2 win at number three doubles to notch the lone point in the setback for the visiting Saints, who finish the season at 9-6 overall.

The winner of the 2007 Great Northeast tournament championship earns an automatic berth into the 2008 NCAA Division III Women’s Tennis Championships next May. Suffolk notched a 6-3 dual-match win over Simmons last Saturday afternoon to claim the Great Northeast regular season crown and end the Sharks’ 37-match conference winning streak, and the Rams posted a 5-4 win over Johnson & Wales back in September in Providence, R.I.

Singles Results 
#1 Kellie Sturma (SUF) def. Anna Maria Podnecky (EMM) 6-1, 6-3 
#2 Kaitlynn Cates (SUF) def. Rachel Strauss (EMM) 6-1, 6-1 
#3 Jen Nelson (SUF) def. Caitlin Kustes (EMM) 6-1, 6-3 
#4 Alex Hernandez (SUF) def. Cat Robinson (EMM) 6-3, 6-3 
#5 Catarina Rosa (SUF) def. Catherine Dunphy (EMM) 7-5, 6-3 
#6 Rachael Troia (SUF) def. Katie Silva (EMM) 6-2, 7-5

Doubles Results 
#1 Sturma/Cates (SUF) def. Podnecky/Dunphy (EMM) 8-0 
#2 Nelson/Rosa (SUF) def. Nory Hayes/Jamie Kenyon (EMM) 8-4 
#3 Megan Barrows/Caitrin Dunn (EMM) def. Thuy Le/Jenna Pecoraro (SUF) 8-2

Records 
Suffolk 13-0 
Emmanuel 9-6