WELLESLEY, MA- The Wheaton College women's tennis team suffered its first loss of the season on Tuesday, as the Lyons played a handful of close matches during an 8-1 setback at nationally-ranked Wellesley College, the four-time defending New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament champion.

Wheaton, which is ranked 24th in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's (ITA) Northeast poll, slipped to 7-1 overall and 2-1 in the league. The Blue, which moved to 3-0 overall as well as during NEWMAC competition, is ranked 11th nationally and fourth regionally by the ITA. During the match, Wellesley dropped its first point of the season.

The Lyons' lone win came at first doubles, with sophomores Sarah Geocaris (Newport Beach, CA/Sage Hill School) and Catherine Teague (Manchester, NH/Central) downing senior Jennifer Schwarzkopf (Hinsdale, IL/Hinsdale Central) and junior Mohona Siddique (Chevy Chase, MD/Sidwell Friends School) by an 8-4 final. The Blue tandem had yielded just two games all year to NEWMAC foes during two matches.

Wheaton's second and third doubles teams combined to win just two games, and the Lyons faced a 2-1 deficit heading into singles action, where the visitors forced three tight matches, including two that went to super tiebreakers.

In the top position, Geocaris won the first set before Blue freshman Marie Watanabe (Houston, TX) rallied for a 6-7, 6-2, 10-4 victory. At number two, Teague lost to Schwarzkopf, 7-5 in the first set but notched a 6-3 win to knot the match before falling in the super tiebreaker, 10-7. In the sixth position, freshman Rosalyn Chesky (South Hadley, MA/Wilbraham & Monson Academy) suffered a 7-5, 6-4 loss to senior Katie Ching (Kaneohe, HI/Honolulu Waldorf School).

During fourth singles, sophomore Ellen Van Faasen (Manchester, MA/Manchester Essex Regional) lost the first set, 6-2 before narrowly being edged in the second, 7-5 by sophomore Nathalie Herman (San Francisco, CA/International).

Wheaton looks to get back on track when it hosts Smith College on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.