When the 2013-14 season kicked off for the women’s tennis squad, Head Coach Lynn Miller may not have expected her 600th career victory to come as soon as it did. Yet the Lyons are off to a historically strong start, winning their first six contests, and Miller earning that remarkable milestone along the way.
It all started when the women opened their season at Harvard University, where they squared off with Simmons College. An 8-1 trouncing was a sign of things to come for the Lyons, and the win also extended their season opener winning streak, which dates back to 2000.
The team came back home to host Nichols College, though the visitors proved to be little competition on the court. After sweeping all nine match-ups, the Lyons stood at an impressive 2-0 record overall, and remained undefeated in singles.
Their impressive run continued back out on the road, with 8-1 victories at both Mount Holyoke College and Springfield College. And recently the team swept away both Smith College and Emerson College in 9-0 victories at home.
In the victory over Smith, Miller captured her 600th win as coach of both the men’s and women’s tennis teams at Wheaton. The accomplishment reflects her dedication to both programs at Wheaton, having coached the women’s team for over thirty years and the men’s for over twenty.
In 2012, she was inducted into the United States Tennis Association of New England Hall of Fame, and continues to grow her legacy as an iconic leader of the sport to this day.
As for the team itself, their success has been led by the play of co-captains Lyndsay Cooke ’14 and Alexandra Marlowe ’15, who were undefeated in both singles as a duo in doubles through the team’s first six contests heading into the ITA Regional Tournament at Williams College this past weekend.
The duo each collected victories at the tournament before returning home for a match-up with Wellesley College. The team’s next home game is on Saturday, Oct. 5 against conference rival MIT, the other top team in the NEWMAC who may pose the biggest threat to the Lyons in advancing in the NEWMAC Tournament at the end of October. The showdown could be an indicator of which team will go all the way through the NEWMAC in the end.