Women's Tennis (11-3, 5-2) Wins NEWMAC Tournament Opener Before Falling in Semis

The Wheaton College women's tennis team, which is ranked 24th in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's (ITA) Northeast poll, went 1-1 during the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament at Mount Holyoke College over the weekend. The third-seeded Lyons downed number-six Smith College, 5-0 in Saturday's first round before falling to second-seeded Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), 5-2 in Sunday's semifinal round.

Wheaton posted its ninth shutout of the season during a win over the Pioneers, as three doubles tandems notched victories to put the Lyons in position to clinch the match early in singles action. The duos of sophomores Sarah Geocaris (Newport Beach, CA/Sage Hill School) and Catherine Teague (Manchester, NH/Central), junior Katherine Knies (Purdys, NY/North Salem) and freshman Allesandra DiOrio (Cumberland, RI/Lincoln School), and senior Mallory Farmer (Washington, CT/The Gunnery) and sophomore Ellen Van Faasen (Manchester, MA/Manchester Essex Regional) were all victorious, while Geocaris and Van Faasen were the lone Lyons to complete singles matches.

Against MIT, Wheaton took a doubles point from the Engineers for the second time this fall, as Geocaris and Teague avenged the only loss they had suffered in their first 12 dual matches with an 8-6 win in the top slot. DiOrio notched the lone Lyon singles point behind a 6-3, 6-1 triumph in the third position. During one of two unfinished matches, Geocaris took the first set in the top slot from the eighth-ranked player in the ITA's national poll by a 6-1 count, and the players stood tied at six in the second set.