Lynn Miller

WORCESTER, MA- After winning the first conference tournament title in program history on Sunday, the Wheaton College women's tennis team drew a school-record five all-league laurels on Tuesday at the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) coaches meeting at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). Head coach Lynn Miller, now in her 30th season guiding the program, earned her third coach-of-the-year honor.

Rosalyn Chesky

Junior Catherine Teague (Manchester, NH/Central) and sophomore Rosalyn Chesky (South Hadley, MA/Wilbraham & Monson Academy) each drew singles and doubles honors, while sophomore Allesandra DiOrio (Cumberland, RI/Lincoln School) landed an all-league accolade for her singles play. Juniors Sarah Geocaris (Newport Beach, CA/Sage Hill School) and Ellen Van Faasen (Manchester, MA/Manchester Essex Regional) both nabbed doubles laurels. Wheaton had previously earned four all-conference honors in 2003.

Allesandra DiOrio

Wheaton athletes occupied two of the six first-team singles positions and two of the three doubles slots. Teague and Chesky took the second and sixth spots, respectively, while Geocaris and Teague combined at the first doubles position, and Chesky and Van Faasen comprised the third doubles team. DiOrio occupied the fourth singles slot on the all-conference second team.

Sarah Geocaris

Teague posted a 14-4 mark, going 5-1 during NEWMAC play. Four of her league wins came in straight sets, while another was a 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 victory over an opponent from nationally-ranked Wellesley. She also notched a pair of victories in the NEWMAC Tournament, including a 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 win in the championship against the Blue that snapped a 4-4 tie between the teams, as she won the final four games of the third set. Teague is ranked 15th in the Northeast region by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA).

Catherine Teague

In doubles, Geocaris and Teague went 16-3 this fall, including 5-1 in the league, yielding a total of two games during their five victories in regular season NEWMAC action. Among the wins was an 8-0 blanking of a nationally-ranked duo from nationally-ranked Wellesley. During the postseason, the tandem, which is ranked 11th in the region, blanked a Smith College tandem in the semifinals before rallying from a 5-4 deficit for an 8-5 victory in the title tilt against Wellesley.

Ellen Van Faasen

Chesky recorded a spotless 7-0 record in league play while winning all five of her matches in the sixth slot in straight sets. When playing in the fifth position, Chesky notched a 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 victory at Mount Holyoke College and a 6-3, 6-0 triumph at Smith. By leading the team in wins this fall, Chesky's 16-3 overall mark included a pair of straight-set wins in the NEWMAC Tournament.

Chesky and Van Faasen were a perfect 5-0 in conference action, yielding more than two games only once. They finished the fall 14-1, including 11-0 in dual matches, while twice beating a tandem from nationally-ranked Wellesley, including by an 8-2 count during the NEWMAC Tournament championship match.

DiOrio went 6-1 in league action, including 5-1 at fourth singles, while ending up with a 12-3 overall record. Each of her league victories came in straight sets, which included a 6-4, 7-6 decision while playing one slot higher, in the third position, against Smith.

Miller led the Lyons, who are ranked 12th in the region, to a 13-2 overall mark, setting a school record for victories in a fall season and coming within one of the program standard for wins in an entire school year. By guiding the team to its first league tournament crown, Miller's Blue and White squad will compete in its initial NCAA Tournament in May. With more than 300 victories at the reigns of the women's team, Miller, who also heads the men's program, had previously been named conference coach of the year in 1989 and 2003.

The Wheaton College women's tennis team, which is ranked 12th in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's (ITA) Northeast poll, won both of its New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament matches on Sunday at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), as the top-seeded Lyons downed number-four Smith College, 5-0 in the semifinals before picking up a dramatic 5-4 win in the title match over second-seeded Wellesley College, the five-time defending tournament champion. Wheaton earned its first league tournament title and automatically qualified for May's NCAA Tournament, which the Lyons will attend as a team for the first time.

Juniors Sarah Geocaris (Newport Beach, CA/Sage Hill School) and Catherine Teague (Manchester, NH/Central) are the 11th-ranked doubles team in the region, while Teague is 15th in singles and Geocaris is 22nd. Geocaris completed the fall season with 98 career wins between singles and doubles, while Teague has recorded 92 victories thus far. The duo helped Wheaton break the school mark for wins in a fall season, as the Lyons are within one victory of the record for an entire school year.

Wheaton avenged its lone NEWMAC loss of the season with a 5-0 sweep of Smith. Geocaris and Teague swept their opponent at first doubles, while the tandems of senior Katherine Knies (Purdys, NY/North Salem) and sophomore Allesandra DiOrio (Cumberland, RI/Lincoln School) and junior Ellen Van Faasen (Manchester, MA/Manchester Essex Regional) and sophomore Rosalyn Chesky (South Hadley, MA/Wilbraham & Monson Academy) also earned victories to give the Lyons a 3-0 advantage. In singles, Teague blanked her opponent in the second slot, while Chesky earned a 6-0, 6-2 win at six to clinch Wheaton's team victory and send it into the championship match.

Teague staged her second clutch comeback against Wellesley during singles, capturing her match to break a 4-4 tie between the teams and hand the Lyons their first league tournament crown. After dropping her opening set, Teague knotted her match before trailing 4-2 in the deciding set. However, the junior won the final four games to complete a late rally during a 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 victory. In the Lyons' second finals appearance and first since dropping a 7-2 decision to Wellesley in 1991, Wheaton took a narrow 2-1 lead after doubles against the Blue, which is ranked 20th nationally and sixth in the region. Chesky and Van Faasen won 8-2 at third doubles before Geocaris and Teague rallied from a 5-4 hole for an 8-5 win over a nationally-ranked duo in the top spot. The Lyons pushed ahead 4-2 thanks to straight-set victories from Chesky in the sixth position and Geocaris in the top slot, where she downed a nationally-ranked foe, but the Blue took the next two decisions to set up the dramatic finish.

Sarah Geocaris

NORTON, MA- Wheaton College women's tennis juniors Sarah Geocaris (Newport Beach, CA/Sage Hill School) and Catherine Teague (Manchester, NH/Central) swept the weekly New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) awards for the week ending on Sunday, October 25, after leading the Lyons to their first tournament title.

Teague was named singles player of the week for the third time this season and fourth occasion in her career, while she and Geocaris were selected doubles team of the week for the third time this fall and seventh instance in their careers. Teague is ranked 15th in the Northeast by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), while she and Geocaris stand 11th as a tandem.

Catherine Teague

Teague went 2-0 during conference championship weekend, including overcoming a third-set deficit in the deciding match of Sunday's title contest in leading the top-seeded Lyons to the title. Teague paced Wheaton with a 6-0, 6-0 victory in the second position against a foe from fourth-seeded Smith College in the team's 5-0 win during Sunday's semifinal round.

In the final against five-time defending league tournament champion and nationally-ranked Wellesley College, which was the second seed, Teague lost her first set before knotting the match with a 7-5 victory in the second set. She then fought back from a 4-2 deficit in the final set in taking four straight games for a 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 victory.

Geocaris and Teague posted a 2-0 mark from the first doubles position over the weekend. Against Smith in the semifinals, the duo blanked its counterpart during the Lyon sweep. Geocaris and Teague then provided Wheaton with a much-needed doubles point in the title match versus Wellesley. Trailing 5-4 against the Blue, the tandem rattled off wins in four straight games against a nationally-ranked foe for an 8-5 triumph and eventual 5-4 team victory.

Extending their winning streak to six matches, the Lyons, who are ranked 12th in the Northeast, improved to 13-2. Wheaton set a school record for wins in a fall season and is within one of the program mark for an entire year. With the conference championship, the Lyons will make their first appearance at the NCAA Tournament, which is set to begin on May 14.

CAMBRIDGE, MA- Wheaton College junior Catherine Teague (Manchester, NH/Central) capped her second clutch comeback of the day by winning the final four games of the third set to lift the top-seeded Lyons past five-time defending league tournament champion Wellesley College, 5-4 during the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament title match on Sunday at Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) duPont Tennis Courts.

Wheaton's tournament crown was the first in program history after it had notched a 5-0 semifinal victory over number-four Smith College earlier in the day. By improving to 13-2, the Lyons automatically qualified for May's NCAA Tournament, as the national championship appearance will be the team's first. Wheaton, which is ranked 12th in the Northeast by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), set a school record for wins in a fall season and is within one of the program mark for an entire school year.

The Lyons were making their second tournament title match appearance and first since 1991, when they lost to the Blue. Wellesley, the second seed, completed its fall campaign at 7-3, with two of those losses coming to Wheaton. The Blue is ranked 20th nationally and sixth in the region.

Teague lost her first set at second singles against senior Mohona Siddique (Chevy Chase, MD/Sidwell Friends School) before knotting the match with a victory in the second set. With the other five singles matches decided, the teams square at four points apiece and Teague trailing by a 4-2 count, the junior rattled off victories in the final four games to pull out the 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 victory.

In what proved to be a match chock full of comebacks, Wheaton rallied for a 2-1 advantage through doubles, dropping its first decision before winning twice. Junior Ellen Van Faasen (Manchester, MA/Manchester Essex Regional) and sophomore Rosalyn Chesky (South Hadley, MA/Wilbraham & Monson Academy) posted the Lyons' first victory by an 8-2 score at three.

Teague and junior Sarah Geocaris (Newport Beach, CA/Sage Hill School) forged a comeback during their 8-5 triumph in the top doubles slot to give the Lyons an edge heading into singles. The duo, ranked 11th in the region, had trailed by a 5-4 count against Siddique and junior Jacqueline Shen (Calgary, Alberta/Queen Elizabeth), who are ranked 25th in the nation, before rallying for the victory.

The first completed singles match saw Wellesley earn its second point, but the Lyons pushed ahead 4-2 thanks to a pair of straight-set victories, first from Chesky, 6-1, 6-3 in the sixth position and then by Geocaris, 6-2, 6-2 in the top slot. Geocaris, the 22nd-ranked player in the region, knocked off sophomore Maria Watanabe (Houston, TX/Greenwich), who is ranked 35th in all of Division III. Chesky won after trailing 3-0 in the second set.

However, the Blue took the next two points, evening the match thanks to a come-from-behind victory. Senior Katherine Knies (Purdys, NY/North Salem) took the first set in the fifth position from junior Nathalie Herman (San Francisco, CA/International) by a 6-1 count before suffering identical 6-2 setbacks in the final two sets, setting the stage for Teague's championship-clinching victory.

The Lyons, who avenged their lone regular season NEWMAC loss, which came against the Pioneers on October 3, move into the finals to face second seed Wellesley College, which downed host MIT, 5-2 in today's other semifinal. On September 29, Wheaton snapped Wellesley's 47-match NEWMAC winning streak during a 7-2 victory in Norton.

Wheaton, which is ranked 12th in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Northeast poll, extended its winning streak to five matches while improving to 12-2 overall. Smith completes its fall slate with a 5-4 mark.

Juniors Sarah Geocaris (Newport Beach, CA/Sage Hill School) and Catherine Teague (Manchester, NH/Central) set the early tone against Smith, blanking the opposition in the top doubles position, while classmate Ellen Van Faasen (Manchester, MA/Manchester Essex Regional) and sophomore Rosalyn Chesky (South Hadley, MA/Wilbraham & Monson Academy) cruised to an 8-2 triumph in the third slot.

At number-two doubles, senior Katherine Knies (Purdys, NY/North Salem) and sophomore Allesandra DiOrio (Cumberland, RI/Lincoln School) gutted out a 9-7 victory over senior Alanna Dick (Winthrop, ME/Winthrop) and sophomore Clair Oblamski (Elm Grove, WI/Brookfield East), giving the Lyons a commanding 3-0 edge heading into singles play.

Needing to win just two of the six singles matches to clinch the team victory, Chesky and Teague assured Wheaton of just that. Teague shut out sophomore Gianna Teague (Gahanna, OH/Columbus Academy) at number two, while Chesky surrendered just two games to junior Margaret Steiner (Madison, CT/Lauralton Hall) in the sixth spot.

The Blue and White, which matched Wellesley College with a 6-1 league mark but earned the higher seeding due to a 7-2 victory over the nationally-ranked Blue on September 29, drew a first-round bye and will oppose the winner of Saturday's Mount Holyoke College and Smith College match during a Sunday semifinal at 9:30 a.m. A victory would propel the Lyons into their second tournament championship contest, and their first since 1991, with an automatic bid into the program's first NCAA Tournament on the line. The title match is set for 1:00 p.m.

For the 10th time in the 15 years of the league implementing a team format in the tournament, the Lyons have qualified for the semifinals. They are 3-2 in the postseason against Mount Holyoke and 4-3 against Smith, having faced the Pioneers in last year's first round, a 5-0 Wheaton victory in a match played at Mount Holyoke.

In her 30th season, head coach Lynn Miller has led Wheaton to an 11-2 overall mark and a ranking of 12th in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Northeast poll, as the Lyons' victory over Wellesley snapped the Blue's 47-match NEWMAC winning streak.

Wheaton's first-doubles tandem is comprised of juniors Sarah Geocaris (Newport Beach, CA/Sage Hill School) and Catherine Teague (Manchester, NH/Central), the region's 11th-ranked duo, who have gone 14-3 this fall while holding down the top two singles positions. Geocaris is 11-6 and Teague is 12-4, as each are among the top 22 in the regional rankings.

Senior captain Katherine Knies (Purdys, NY/North Salem) and sophomore Allesandra DiOrio (Cumberland, RI/Lincoln School) are 7-3 during dual matches from second doubles, while junior Ellen Van Faasen (Manchester, MA/Manchester Essex Regional) and sophomore Rosalyn Chesky (South Hadley, MA/Wilbraham & Monson Academy) have posted a 12-1 mark, going a perfect 5-0 during NEWMAC play at third doubles.

Van Faasen is 11-6 in singles action as Wheaton's primary third-singles player, while DiOrio has gone 12-2, including 6-1 in league action. Knies is 11-3, including 10-0 from the fifth slot, and Chesky leads the team in wins at 14-3 after posting a spotless 7-0 NEWMAC mark.

The Wheaton College women's tennis team, which is ranked 12th in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's (ITA) Northeast poll, clinched a share of its first regular season league crown last week by defeating regionally-ranked Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), 6-3 on Tuesday in its New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) finale before sending six competitors to the weekend's New England Women's Intercollegiate Tennis Tournament (NEWITT).

The Lyons, who entered their MIT match 1-14 against the Engineers since 1996, had not beaten MIT by more than one point since the 1991 season. Wheaton, which holds the tiebreaker over NEWMAC regular season co-champion Wellesley College, will be the top seed in this weekend's league tournament. The Lyons earned a first-round bye and will compete in Sunday's semifinals at MIT, with a spot in that afternoon's championship match up for grabs. The Blue and White seeks its initial postseason crown, which would earn Wheaton an automatic berth into next spring's NCAA Tournament.

Juniors Sarah Geocaris (Newport Beach, CA/Sage Hill School) and Catherine Teague (Manchester, NH/Central) are the 11th-ranked doubles team in the region, while Teague is 15th in singles and Geocaris is 22nd. Geocaris enters the week with 95 career wins between singles and doubles.

At MIT, the Lyons tied a program record with their sixth conference victory of the season, downing a squad ranked 11th in the Northeast, one spot ahead of Wheaton. The visitors took a 2-1 edge into doubles, as the tandems of senior Katherine Knies (Purdys, NY/North Salem)/sophomore Allesandra DiOrio (Cumberland, RI/Lincoln School) and junior Ellen Van Faasen (Manchester, MA/Manchester Essex Regional)/sophomore Rosalyn Chesky (South Hadley, MA/Wilbraham & Monson Academy) each won, with DiOrio and Knies pulling out a 9-8 decision. Geocaris and Teague narrowly dropped an 8-6 decision to a regionally-ranked tandem. In singles action, Chesky, DiOrio and Knies each won in straight sets, while Van Faasen rallied for a victory in three sets. Geocaris fell in three sets to a nationally-ranked foe, and Teague took a regionally-ranked opponent to three sets.

During the NEWITT Tournament, Chesky and Van Faasen advanced to the quarterfinal round of the B Draw, going 3-1 during four three-match contests. The two combined for three doubles wins while each taking three singles matches en route to posting 3-0 wins over duos from Endicott College and Suffolk University, as well as a combined pair from Amherst College and Middlebury College, before falling in the quarterfinals to a tandem from two-time defending NCAA Tournament champion Williams College. Geocaris and Teague went 1-1 in the A Draw, beginning the competition in the second round with a 3-0 victory over Roger Williams University before falling to a Williams duo, the tournament's seventh seed. DiOrio and Knies also posted a 1-1 mark during B Draw competition, rallying for a 2-1 win in the second round over a Babson College twosome after losing the doubles match but suffering a 2-1 setback to Brandeis University. DiOrio's singles win accounted for the duo's point.

Rosalyn Chesky

NORTON, MA- The Wheaton College women's tennis team continues to rack up New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) awards, as junior Ellen Van Faasen (Manchester, MA/Manchester Essex Regional) and sophomore Rosalyn Chesky (South Hadley, MA/Wilbraham & Monson Academy) being named doubles team of the week marked the sixth week this fall in which at least one Lyon was honored. The tandem picked up its second accolade for the week ending on Sunday, October 18.

Chesky and Van Faasen went 4-1 last week, including posting an 8-1 victory on Tuesday from third doubles over a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) duo during Wheaton's 6-3 win, which clinched it a share of its first regular season conference title and the top seed in this weekend's six-team NEWMAC Tournament.

Ellen Van Faasen

The tandem went 3-1 over the weekend at the New England Women's Intercollegiate Tennis Tournament (NEWITT), downing a mixed duo from Amherst College and Middlebury College, 8-1, before picking up 8-3 wins over Endicott College and Suffolk University but falling in the quarterfinals of the B Draw to a team from two-time defending national champion Williams College.

Chesky and Van Faasen ran their season record to 12-1, including a perfect 9-0 mark from the third position in dual matches. The pair is also 5-0 in conference play.

The Lyons, who are ranked 12th in the Northeast, are on a four-match winning streak. With an 11-2 record overall and a 6-1 league mark, Wheaton received a first-round bye in this weekend's tournament and will face an undetermined foe during Sunday's semifinal round at MIT at 9:30 a.m.

Two other Wheaton tandems competed, as juniors Sarah Geocaris (Newport Beach, CA/Sage Hill School) and Catherine Teague (Manchester, NH/Central) advanced to the A Draw third round, while senior Katherine Knies (Purdys, NY/North Salem) and sophomore Allesandra DiOrio (Cumberland, RI/Lincoln School) went to the third round in the B Draw.

Chesky and Van Faasen went 3-1 during four three-match contests in the B Draw, posting 3-0 wins over duos from Endicott College and Suffolk University, as well as a combined pair from Amherst College and Middlebury College, before falling in the quarterfinals by a 3-0 count to a tandem from two-time defending NCAA Tournament champion Williams College.

During their opening match, Chesky and Van Faasen posted an 8-1 doubles victory over the combined duo from Amherst and Middlebury before each Lyon picked up an 8-1 singles win. An 8-3 doubles triumph against Suffolk was followed by an 8-0 singles win by Van Faasen and an 8-1 victory from Chesky. Versus Endicott, the two took an 8-3 double decision before Van Faasen won 6-1, 7-5 in singles and Chesky rallied for a 6-7, 6-3, 10-4 win. Wheaton's run ended against the Williams pair, which eventually won the B Draw championship.

Geocaris and Teague went 1-1 over the weekend, beginning the competition in the second round with an 8-0 blanking in doubles of Roger Williams University. After an 8-1 singles win against the Hawks by Geocaris and an 8-2 triumph for Teague, the two dropped a doubles decision to a Williams tandem, the tournament's seventh seed. Geocaris, who is ranked 22nd in the Northeast by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), fell to 19th-ranked junior Nicole Reich (Westfield, NJ/Westfield), while Teague suffered a 6-4, 1-6, 8-10 setback.

DiOrio and Knies also posted a 1-1 mark during the tournament. After dropping an 8-5 decision to a Babson College tandem during doubles in a second-round match, they rallied for a 2-1 team victory behind a pair of singles wins, with DiOrio taking an 8-5 match and Knies winning by an 8-2 score. The duo was bounced by Brandeis University, 2-1. A narrow 8-6 doubles loss was followed by DiOrio's 7-5, 7-5 singles victory but a 7-5, 6-4 setback by Knies.

As a team, Wheaton returns to action next Sunday for a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament semifinal match against an undetermined foe at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The top-seeded Lyons begin at 9:30 a.m., with a spot in that afternoon's final round up for grabs.

With the victory, Wheaton secured the top seed in the upcoming NEWMAC Tournament, which is set to start on Saturday, October 24, at MIT. Winning for the fourth straight time and victorious in nine of their last 10 matches, the Lyons raised their season record to 11-2 and conference mark to 6-1, as Wheaton's six league wins match a program high.

Tuesday's match showcased two of the top 12 teams in the Northeast, as Wheaton entered the competition ranked 12th by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) and MIT 11th. With the loss, the Engineers fell to 3-4 and 3-3.

The visitors took two of three doubles matches for a 2-1 lead, capped by a thrilling 9-8 win at two by senior Katherine Knies (Purdys, NY/North Salem) and sophomore Allesandra DiOrio (Cumberland, RI/Lincoln School), who won the tiebreaker by a 10-8 count.

Junior Ellen Van Faasen (Manchester, MA/Manchester Essex Regional) and sophomore Rosalyn Chesky (South Hadley, MA/Wilbraham & Monson Academy) surrendered just one game at three, while juniors Sarah Geocaris (Newport Beach, CA/Sage Hill School) and Catherine Teague (Manchester, NH/Central) fell 8-6 in the top spot.

After dropping a pair of three-setters to open singles play and trail 3-2, Wheaton stormed back to win its final four matches, with Chesky's 6-1, 6-1 triumph at number six serving as the deciding contest. Knies also allowed just two games in her victory in the fifth slot.

DiOrio posted a 7-6, 6-3 victory in the fourth position, while Van Faasen fought back from a one-set deficit to win 0-6, 6-4, 6-4 at three.

Wheaton is back in action this Friday, when the three-day New England Women's Intercollegiate Tennis Tournament (NEWITT) begins at Amherst College.