WALTHAM, Mass. - The Wheaton College women's tennis team suffered a 6-3 setback to host Brandeis University in a battle of regionally-ranked teams on Wednesday afternoon at the Rieger Tennis Courts.

Ranked 10th in the region by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), the Lyons slipped to 2-1, while the 12th-ranked Judges were opening their season.

Wheaton nearly swept doubles action, posting a pair of 8-4 triumphs in the top two spots before losing in a tiebreaker at third doubles.  First doubles featured a pair of regionally-ranked tandems, as the Lyons' 15th-ranked tandem of seniors Sarah Geocaris (Newport Beach, Calif./Sage Hill School) and Catherine Teague (Manchester, N.H./Central) knocked off 14th-ranked senior Rachel Rosman (Bonita Springs, Fla./Estero) and sophomore Faith Broderick (Washingtonville, N.Y./Washingtonville).

Freshmen Lyndsay Cooke (Bakersfield, Calif./Bakersfield Christian) and Madison Hartley (Charlotte, Vt./Rice Memorial) followed suit at second doubles before senior Ellen Van Faasen (Manchester, Mass./Manchester Essex Regional) and junior Allesandra DiOrio (Cumberland, R.I./Lincoln School) came up just short at number three.

Needing victories in three singles matches to secure the team win, the Lyons would only muster one, as Cooke needed a third-set super tiebreaker in the third slot, winning 6-4, 2-6, 10-1.  

Teague dropped a first-set tiebreaker to nationally-ranked Rosman at number one before losing 6-2 in the second set.  Van Faasen fell 7-5, 6-3 at five, while freshman Morgan Bell (Gloucester, Mass./Pingree School) lost in three sets in the sixth spot.

The Lyons break from dual-match play this weekend when they travel to Wellesley for the three-day ITA Regional Tournament beginning on Friday.