Women's Tennis (10-2, 5-2) Falls to MIT, Wins Four Contests at NEWITT Tournament

The Wheaton College women's tennis team, which is ranked 24th in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's (ITA) Northeast poll, completed its New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) regular season slate with a 6-3 loss to five-time defending league runner-up Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on Tuesday in Norton before a pair of tandems won two three-match contests apiece over the weekend at the New England Women's Intercollegiate Tennis Tournament (NEWITT). By placing third in the final NEWMAC standings, Wheaton recorded its highest league finish and best conference record since 2003. As the third seed in this weekend's conference tournament at Mount Holyoke College, the Lyons will take on sixth-seeded Smith College in Saturday's first round.

Against MIT, which is ranked 10th in the region, Wheaton took one doubles match and dropped a pair of others by just two games before notching two singles victories. Junior Katherine Knies (Purdys, NY/North Salem) and freshman Allesandra DiOrio (Cumberland, RI/Lincoln School) captured an 8-6 triumph in doubles, but sophomores Sarah Geocaris (Newport Beach, CA/Sage Hill School) and Catherine Teague (Manchester, NH/Central) dropped a 9-7 decision, and sophomore Ellen Van Faasen (Manchester, MA/Manchester Essex Regional) and freshman Rosalyn Chesky (South Hadley, MA/Wilbraham & Monson Academy), 8-6. In singles, DiOrio and Knies each rallied from one set down to claim victory, and Geocaris lost, 7-5, 1-6, 3-6 to the nation's eighth-ranked player.

At the NEWITT Tournament, each of Wheaton's duos played one doubles and two singles matches against its opponent. The Lyons' number-one team of Geocaris and Teague knocked off the top tandems from New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) foes Bates College and Trinity College by 2-1 scores before coming up short against a duo from defending NCAA champion Williams College, 2-1. Wheaton's third team of Van Faasen and senior Mallory Farmer (Washington, CT/The Gunnery) split its four contests, downing a Trinity team, 2-1 before falling to Bates, 3-0. During consolation play, the Lyons blanked Roger Williams University, 3-0 but suffered a 3-0 loss to MIT.