WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - After six straight matches on the road, the William & Mary women's tennis team finally opens the home part of its schedule with a pair of nationally-ranked match-ups this weekend at the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center. The Tribe hosts No. 28 South Carolina on Saturday, before welcoming No. 64 Wake Forest on Sunday. Both matches carry 1 p.m. start times. FREE pizza and soda will be available to fans during the weekend matches, and t-shirt will be thrown into the stands during doubles.
 
Scouting #42 William & Mary
The Tribe closed out its six-match road swing to open the 2016 dual-match season with a split against Elon and N.C. State last week. W&M sits a 4-2 on the year with two of its victories against top-50 nationally-ranked foes. Junior Marie Faure continued the strong start to her Tribe career, earning CAA Player of the Week on Wednesday after going perfect in both singles and doubles. Last week, the Green and Gold won its CAA opener over Elon, 6-1, before falling in narrow fashion to N.C. State. The Tribe captured the doubles point in both matches. Freshman Lauren Goodman and sophomore Maria Groener improved to 3-0 on the year with their first win as a pair at No. 1 doubles. Both players posted wins over All-CAA selections from last season. Goodman won at No. 1 singles over a First Team All-CAA pick Olivia Lucas, while Groener downed Kirsten Ward, who was a second team honoree,  at No. 3. Against N.C. State, the match came down to four three-set tilts with the Wolfpack winning three to pull out the team triumph. Like Faure, senior Julia Casselbury was perfect on the week in singles action with wins against both the Phoenix and Wolfpack. She improved her season record to 8-3, including 4-1 in dual-match play. Senior Elizaveta Nemchinov, who is ranked No. 91 nationally, leads the Tribe at 9-3 in singles action this season.
 
Scouting #28 South Carolina
The Gamecocks are off to their best start since 2008 at 5-0 and are currently ranked No. 28 nationally the latest ITA National Rankings released on Jan. 27. Three of USC's wins have come against nationally-ranked competition. South Carolina is coming off a pair of ranked wins last weekend in a trip to Charlottesville. The Gamecocks pulled off an impressive upset of No. 7 Virginia, 4-3, thanks to taking the doubles point and singles wins at the bottom three posts. They followed that performance with a 4-0 win over No. 56 Marshall on Jan. 31. Former W&M head coach Kevin Epley is in his fourth season leading the Gamecocks. As the Tribe head coach from 2003-2008, Epley guided the Green and Gold to five NCAA Tournament appearances and four CAA titles. Paige Cline is USC's top player and ranked No. 43 nationally. She is 11-4 overall in singles, including a 3-1 mark at No. 1. Ingrid Gamarra Martins, who is an impressive 14-2 on the year, is the other nationally-ranked Gamecock at No. 54. She is 5-0 in dual-match play at the No. 3 and No. 4 positions. Both Brigit Folland and Hadley Berg are also in double-digits for singles wins at 10 apiece. Caroline Dailey and Martins are 2-0 at No. 1 doubles. In fact, the Gamecocks have not lost a doubles match in dual-match play as a team, going 3-0 at No. 1, 3-0 at No. 2 and 4-0 at No. 3.
 
Series History: W&M vs. South Carolina 
South Carolina leads the all-times series with the Tribe at 5-4, but W&M has won four of the last seven meetings. In USC's last trip to Williamsburg, the Green and Gold upset then-No. 30 South Carolina, 4-3, in 2013. Included in the Tribe's victories was an Elizaveta Nemchinov triumph at No. 3 singles during her freshman campaign. The Gamecocks won the last meeting against W&M, 7-0, in Columbia in 2014. This season marks USC third trip to Williamsburg, where W&M is 2-0 against their visitors from the South.
 
Scouting #64 Wake Forest
Wake Forest is off to a 5-0 start to the season and travels to VCU on Saturday before facing the Tribe a day later. The Demon Deacons were ranked No. 64 in the most recent ITA National Rankings released on Jan. 27. Last weekend, the Deacs posted a pair of 7-0 wins in a doubleheader sweep of Furman and Elon. Included in Wake Forest's wins this season in a 4-3 road win at No. 62 Tennessee on Jan. 23.
In the win over the Vols, Kimmy Guerin (No. 1), Emma Davis (No. 2), Joanna Zalewski (No. 4) and Samantha Asch (No. 5) posted singles wins. The Tribe will be the Deacs third CAA foe as they also posted 7-0 win over both Elon and Charleston. Guerin, who upset the No. 60-ranked player in the country in the win over Tennessee, is 10-6 overall on the year. He is 5-0 in duals, including four wins at the top spot. Davis leads Wake Forest with a 16-4 record, including a 4-1 dual-match mark playing at No. 1 and No. 2. Zalewski and Asch both own 13 singles wins on the year, including 5-0 marks in dual-match play at No. 4 and No. 5, respectively.
 
Series History: W&M vs. Wake Forest
Wake Forest leads the all-time series with W&M, 20-17, but the Tribe has won seven of the last 10 meetings, including three of the last four. The Green and Gold holds a 10-8 advantage over the Demon Deacons in Williamsburg. Last season, W&M downed Wake Forest, 4-3, in Winston-Salem, N.C. The Tribe claimed the doubles point, before winning the top three singles matches.