NORTON, Mass. – The Wheaton College (Mass.) men's tennis team was defeated by No. 24 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 8-1, this afternoon in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference play at Beard Field House on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.

The Lyons dip to 5-6 overall and 1-1 in league play, while the Engineers, who are ranked in the most recent Intercollegiate Tennis Association national poll, improve to 8-2 and 2-0.

Wheaton opened the dual match with a 1-0 lead minutes into doubles play when the MIT duo at third doubles suffered an injury and was forced to retire and yield the match and the point.  

MIT went on to win the remaining doubles matches and all six matches to give them eight straight match victories for the dual-match win.

Senior Eli Hanlon (Branford, Conn.) battled in the Lyons' best showing in singles play with a 6-4, 6-3 loss at number six against Engineer first year Cole Armstrong (Mary Esther, Fla.) in the day's final match.

Seniors Sundeep Chakladar (Redondo Beach, Calif.), Kailas Kahler (Pawtucket, R.I.) and first year Grant Gallagher (Irvine, Calif.) were all double winners for MIT with wins in both singles and doubles play. 

Kahler and Chakladar battled to an 8-6 victory at number one doubles for the Engineers, defeating Wheaton first year Jaime Galligo (Madrid, Spain) and Hanlon to give MIT a 2-1 dual-match lead following doubles play. Gallagher teamed with first year Shrish Choudary (Fremont, Calif.) to earn an 8-3 triumph at second doubles over Wheaton first years Paul Berteaux (Courbevoie, France) and Jake Murray (San Diego, Calif.). 

Kahler dropped just one game for the Engineers, en-route to a 6-0, 6-1 win at number one singles over Galligo, while Gallagher also came away with a straight set win at number four singles over Lyon junior Daniel Bor (Seattle, Wash.), 6-3, 6-0. Chakladar rolled in the opening set (6-0) at fifth singles over Wheaton first year Calvin Van Dyke (Albuquerque, N.M.), before taking the second frame (6-4) as well.

Junior Ryan Xiao (Cary, N.C.) played to a 6-2, 6-2 result for MIT over Berteaux at number two singles and first year Siddharth Marathe (Pune, India) surrendered two games in a 6-2, 6-0 Engineers' win at number three singles over Murray to gain MIT's fifth point to decide the match. 

The Engineers return to action on Thursday, April 4 when they travel to Waltham, Mass. to take on Brandeis University, while the Lyons head to Worcester, Mass. on Saturday, March 30 at 12:00 p.m. for NEWMAC tilt at Clark University.