Wheaton takes match-up of regionally-ranked foes, improves to 10-2

WATERVILLE, ME- In a match-up of regionally-ranked squads on Sunday, the Wheaton College women's tennis team won for the second time in as many days, posting a 6-3 victory at Colby College on the Alfond-Wales Tennis Courts.

The Lyons, who sit 12th in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's (ITA) Northeast poll, improved to 10-2, having now recorded a double-figure win total in consecutive fall seasons for the first time since 1990 and 1991. The 20th-ranked Mules were opening their campaign.

Wheaton won two of three doubles matches, with junior Ellen Van Faasen (Manchester, MA/Manchester Essex Regional) and sophomore Rosalyn Chesky (South Hadley, MA/Wilbraham & Monson Academy) winning handily, 8-2 in the third position.

At the top spot, juniors Sarah Geocaris (Newport Beach, CA/Sage Hill School) and Catherine Teague (Manchester, NH/Central) trailed 4-1 before staging a big rally to push past senior Caroline Reaves (Chevy Chase, MD/National Cathedral School) and freshman Sally Holmes (Prairie Village, KS/Shawnee Mission East) for an 8-5 win.

Wheaton senior Katherine Knies (Purdys, NY/North Salem) and sophomore Allesandra DiOrio (Cumberland, RI/Lincoln School) suffered a narrow 8-6 setback to senior Tara Davidson (Concord, MA/Rivers School) and junior Katie Brezinski (Littleton, CO/Kent Denver School) at number two.

During singles, the Lyons clinched the victory with four triumphs. Geocaris was victorious by a 6-1, 7-5 count in the first position, Teague blanked her opponent at number two, and Knies posted a 6-0, 6-4 win at five. Van Faasen played through two close sets in notching a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Brezinski at three, while Chesky fell in a marathon match in the sixth slot, 6-2, 3-6, 5-7, against freshman Sarah Wiener (Mequon, WI/University School of Milwaukee).

Wheaton enters its regular season finale on Tuesday at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) at 4:00 p.m. tied for first in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) standings with Wellesley College. A win would clinch the Lyons at least a share of the first regular season league title in program history.