CAMBRIDGE, MA- The top-seeded Wheaton College women's tennis team advanced to its second conference tournament championship match and first since 1991 with Sunday morning's 5-0 blanking of fourth-seeded Smith College in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament semifinal round match at Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) duPont Tennis Courts.

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.