Lyons blank defending TCCC champion Endicott in non-league play

NORTON, MA- Wheaton College women's tennis players racked up six singles sweeps and yielded a total of seven games in doubles play while rolling past 2008 NCAA Tournament qualifier Endicott College, 9-0 on Wednesday at the Clark Tennis Courts.

The Lyons, who are ranked 12th in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) regional poll, improved to 4-1. The Gulls, who had their four-match winning streak snapped in falling to 6-3, won The Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC) Tournament last season to advance to the NCAA Tournament.

Wheaton picked up a trio of quick doubles wins, with juniors Sarah Geocaris (Newport Beach, CA/Sage Hill School) and Catherine Teague (Manchester, NH/Central), the 11th-ranked tandem in the region, posting an 8-2 win in the top position.

Junior Ellen Van Faasen (Manchester, MA/Manchester Essex Regional) and sophomore Rosalyn Chesky (South Hadley, MA/Wilbraham & Monson Academy) followed suit with an 8-2 triumph at three, while senior Katherine Knies (Purdys, NY/North Salem) and sophomore Allesandra DiOrio (Cumberland, RI/Lincoln School) won 8-3 in the second slot.

During singles play, Knies blanked her fifth-position foe, while Geocaris, the 22nd-ranked player in the region, notched a 6-0, 6-1 win in the top spot. DiOrio and Chesky yielded only two games apiece at four and six, respectively, while Van Faasen notched a 6-4, 6-1 victory in the third spot. Teague, the region's 15th-ranked player, won by a 6-1, 6-4 count at two.

Wheaton heads back into New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action on Saturday with a 1:00 p.m. match against visiting Springfield College.