WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - The William & Mary women's tennis team closes out its season-opening six-match road swing, traveling to the state of North Carolina this weekend. The Green and Gold heads to Greensboro, N.C., to its first CAA counterpart of the year in Elon at the Piedmont Indoor Tennis Center on Friday, Jan. 29, at 2:15 p.m. match. The Tribe wraps up the weekend at N.C. State on Saturday, Jan. 30, at 11 a.m. Live stats and live video for the match with the Wolfpack will be available at GoPack.com.

W&M-N.C. State Live Stats
W&M-N.C. State LIve Video
 
Scouting William & Mary
The Tribe improved to 3-1 on the year with a weekend split at the ITA Kickoff Weekend in Atlanta. It marks the third time in four seasons under head coach Tyler Thomson that W&M started the season 3-1 or better. With its successful start to the year, the Tribe moved up to No. 42 in the ITA National Rankings released on Wednesday. The Green and Gold opened the ITA Kickoff Weekend with a narrow 4-1 loss to No. 24-ranked Georgia Tech. Senior Elizaveta Nemchinov tallied the lone Tribe point with win at the top spot over Paige Hourigan, who finished last season ranked No. 52 nationally. The match came down to a trio of three-set tilts before the Yellow Jackets pulled out the win with a victory at No. 6. The Tribe posted its second win over a top 50 opponent on the final day of the ITA Kickoff Week, upending No. 35-ranked DePaul, 4-2. Sophomores Maria Groener and Olivia Thaler tallied straight-set wins at No. 4 and No. 6, while junior Marie Faure and freshman Lauren Goodman rallied from three-set wins to clinch the team victory over the Blue Demons. Starting the season 3-0, Nemchinov was named the first CAA Player of the Week for the 2016 season on Wednesday. It was the sixth time in her career that Nemchinov won the weekly CAA award.
 
Scouting Elon
Elon enters Friday's match-up at 0-2 on the year. After suffering losses to nationally-ranked foes in No. 4 North Carolina and No. 16 Duke, the Phoenix has its most recent match against UNCG cancelled due to inclement weather.  Against the Tar Heels, sophomore Erica Braschi defeated UNC's Marika Akkerman at the No. 2 position for Elon's lone point of the match. After winning the first set, 6-4, Akkerman retired in the second set trailing Braschi, 3-1. In the Phoenix's 7-0 loss at Duke, both Braschi and Taylor Casey forced third sets at No. 2 and No. 5 before falling. Olivia Lucas is Elon's top player and a returning First Team All-CAA player from last season. Kirsten Ward, who has been playing at No. 1 doubles along with Natalia Janowicz, was a Second Team All-CAA choice last season. Elon finished the 2015 campaign at 15-8 overall after suffering semifinal setback to Charleston in the CAA Tournament.
 
Series History:  W&M vs. Elon
Friday will be the first match-up between the Tribe and Phoenix. Elon played its first season as a member of the CAA in 2015. The inaugural meeting was set to be played in Williamsburg last season during the month of January but was cancelled due to inclement weather.
 
Scouting N.C. State
After having its first two matches of the season cancelled due to inclement weather, N.C. State won its season-opener over East Carolina, 5-2, on Monday. Martina Frantova, a transfer from Mississippi State, is the Wolfpacks top player and ranked No. 35 nationally. She sports a 17-3 season mark, including a 4-0 ledger against nationally-ranked opponents, following her win at No. 1 against ECU. Bianca Moldovan (No. 3), Tayla Stenta (No. 4) and Amanda Rebol (No. 6) also tallied singles wins for N.C. State against the Pirates. Stenta improved her season mark to 10-6. Frantova and Claudia Wiktorin comprised the Packs' No. 1 doubles team against ECU, but lost to fall to 4-3 on the year. Last season, N.C. State finished the year at 11-16, including a first round ACC Tournament victory against Wake Forest.
 
Series History: W&M vs. N.C. State
The Tribe leads the all-time series with the Wolfpack at 12-4, including a 6-1 victory in Williamsburg last season. In that 2015 meeting, N.C. State won the doubles point, before W&M rallied to take all six singles matches. The Green and Gold holds a 3-2 mark in Raleigh, but the Wolfpack won the last tilt at home, 5-2, in 2012.