Judges deal Lyons first loss in battle of regionally-ranked teams

NORTON, MA- The Wheaton College women's tennis team lost for just the ninth time in its last 29 home matches on Wednesday afternoon, as the Lyons were handed their first setback of the season by Brandeis University, 8-1 in a battle of regionally-ranked teams on the Clark Tennis Courts. 

Wheaton entered the match ranked 12th in the Northeast by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), while the Judges are 14th.  Playing Brandeis for the first time since October 1997, the Lyons fell to 2-1 on the young season.  The visitors opened their fall with the match.

The regionally-ranked junior tandem of Sarah Geocaris (Newport Beach, CA/Sage Hill School) and Catherine Teague (Manchester, NH/Central) provided the hosts with their lone win, a hard-fought 9-8 victory at first doubles.  Geocaris and Teague stand 11th in the ITA poll.  The Judges took a 2-1 lead into singles action following 8-4 and 8-2 triumphs in the second and third positions, respectively.

In singles, the teams battled through a trio of three-set matches, including Geocaris and Teague in the top two spots.  Geocaris overcame a first-set deficit against nationally-ranked junior Rachel Rosman (Bonita Springs, FL/Estero) at number one with a 6-2 win in the second set before falling. 

Teague posted a 6-2 victory in the opening set in the second slot against freshman Faith Broderick (Washingtonville, NY/Washingtonville) before dropping a pair of 6-2 decisions.  Senior Katherine Knies (Purdys, NY/North Salem) also took an early lead versus junior Mackenzie Gallegos (Friendswood, TX/Friendswood) at number four but lost in a super tiebreaker.

Brandeis seniors Ariana Sanai (Hopewell Junction, NY/John Jay) and Emily Weisberger (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Hills) and sophomore Sarah Richman (Sewickley, PA/Quaker Valley) were also victorious in singles play.

Wheaton opens its New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) slate at Mount Holyoke College on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.