Wheaton women lose second straight with narrow 5-4 setback to Smith

October 7, 2006

NORTON, MA- The Wheaton College women's tennis team captured two of three doubles matches against New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) foe Smith College, but the Pioneers won four of the six singles contests to turn back the host Lyons, 5-4 Saturday at Clark Tennis Courts.

Dropping its second consecutive league match, Wheaton falls to 7-3 on the year and 3-3 in NEWMAC play. Smith improves to 3-4 overall and now holds the conference tiebreaker with the Lyons at 3-3.

The hosts took a 2-1 lead after winning the top two doubles matches by 8-6 counts, as senior Darby McDermott (Briarcliff Manor, NY/Hackley School) and junior Briana Jackson (Redding, CT/Joel Barlow) won at one and senior Jamie Weiss (Chicago, IL/Francis W. Parker School) and junior Maya Milic-Strkalj (Philadelphia, PA/Friends' Central School) were victorious at number two.

Smith juniors Catherine Lydecker (Conway, NH/Kennett) and Talia Williams (Montpelier, VT/Montpelier) prevented the Wheaton doubles sweep after posting an 8-1 triumph in the third position.

Singles play came down to a pair of must-win matches for the Lyons, but Wheaton was only able to take one of the two before falling just short. With Smith securing wins in three of the top four slots to take a 4-3 edge, the Lyons and Pioneers found themselves in two hard-fought, three-set battles at five and six.

Wheaton sophomore Oriana Federico (Andover, MA/Lawrence Academy) defeated freshman Alanna Dick (Winthrop, ME/Winthrop) 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 at number six, but it was Smith senior Macailagh Herman (Rumson, NJ/Blair Academy) that cinched the overall decision with a 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 win against Milic-Strkalj at five. The Lyons' other singles victory came in straight sets for McDermott in the three hole.

The Wheaton women take the week off from competition and will return to action next Saturday at conference foe Babson College at 1:00 p.m.

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