Naperville, Ill. - The Wheaton women's tennis team traveled to North Central College on Friday afternoon for a CCIW match against the Cardinals. North Central (7-4, 4-0) handed Wheaton its first conference loss of the season as the Cardinals won the match 8-1.

North Central won all three doubles matches to take an early 3-0 lead in the match score today. Junior Sarah Backer picked up Wheaton's victory tonight with a win for the Thunder at No. 6 singles. Backer rallied to defeat North Central's Nina Patience 4-6, 6-0, 7-6 to earn Wheaton's one point in the match.

Wheaton (4-3, 3-1 CCIW) returns to action on Saturday with a conference match at home against Illinois Wesleyan.