NORTON, Mass. - In a match far closer than the final score line, Wheaton pulled out a 7-2 victory over the Smith College Tennis Team in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play on Saturday.

The win is the third consecutive victory for the Lyons, who improve to 3-2 on the season and 2-1 in NEWMAC play while the Pioneers fell to 1-3 overall and 0-3 in conference.

Wheaton swept doubles action with Margaret Anne Smith (Spring Lake, N.J./High Technology) and Samantha Peikes (West Hartford, Conn./Watkinson School) battling to an 8-4 final at the No. 1 position against Izzy Gorham and Amanda Brazell.  Noa Dubin (Southampton, N.Y./Southampton) and Janan Fugel (Franklin Lakes, N.J./Saddle River Day) dropped an 8-5 result in the second position, and Annina Van Riper (Delmar, N.Y./Bethlehem Central) and Morgan Barney (North Attleboro, Mass./North Attleboro) fell 8-3 at third doubles.

That set the stage for a thrilling singles competition which saw five of the six matches go to deciding third sets.  At first singles, Dubin dominated the first set 6-2 only for Brazell to break Dubin's serve three times in the second to level the match., Brazell won the third set 6-1 to take the point for Wheaton.

At second singles, Samantha Peikes (West Hartford, Conn./Watkinson School) won the first set at love over Gorham before the Wheaton senior knotted the match with a 6-2 second set victory .  In a back-and-forth superset, the Lyons earned the point with a 10-8 victory.

Smith earned one of two points for the Pioneers on the afternoon with a three set victory at third singles.  After splitting the first two sets 4-6 and 6-4, Smith pulled out the third 10-6 to improve to 3-1 in singles play on the season.  Morgan Barney (North Attleboro, Mass./North Attleboro) was the other point-winner for Smith with a three set victory over Caroline Stanclift at fifth singles.  Like Smith, Barney came back after dropping the first set, taking the second 6-2 and the third 6-3.  Barney improves to 2-1 in singles play this season.

Joanna Kim (Chicago, IL) dropped the third 10-7 at sixth singles in another match that went the distance after she picked up the second set 6-2.

Smith welcomes rival Mount Holyoke to Northampton on Tuesday in a NEWMAC battle before traveling to Middlebury for fall ITAs next weekend.  Opening serve on Tuesday is scheduled for 5:00 p.m.