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.