WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Winners of four straight, the William & Mary women's tennis team returns home to host a pair of matches this weekend. The Tribe meets East Carolina on Friday, March 18, at 6:30 p.m., before welcoming Marshall to Williamsburg on Sunday, March 20, at 2 p.m. Both matches are schedule to be played outdoors at the Millie West Tennis Facility, weather permitting.
 
Scouting No. 33 William & Mary
The Tribe has won four-straight matches following a sweep of Big Ten foes Illinois and Wisconsin, March 5-6, in Madison, Wis. W&M enters the weekend at 10-4 overall, including a 3-1 mark at home this season. Included in the Tribe's haul of home wins was a 5-2 upset of current No. 9-ranked South Carolina in early February. The Green and Gold reached a season-high national ranking of No. 30 on March 1, and currently sit at No. 33. In the wins over Illinois and Wisconsin, the Tribe captured the doubles point behind its strong play at No. 1 from senior Elizaveta Nemchinov and junior Marie Faure. For their efforts, the pair was named the CAA Doubles Team of the Week on March 10. In singles, Nemchinov post a nationally-ranked singles win against the Illinois, before falling in three-sets to a top-50 Badger opponent. Faure, senior Julia Casselbury and sophomore Marie Groener posted singles wins against Illinois during the Tribe's 5-2 win. Sophomore Olivia Thaler pulled out a come-from-behind three-set win at No. 5 to clinch a narrow 4-3 win over Wisconsin. Freshman Lauren Goodman won at No. 3 against the Badgers, while Groener wrapped up a perfect singles weekend with a triumph at No. 6. A quartet of Tribe players own double-digit singles wins this season led by Nemchinov at 14-6, including an 8-4 mark at No. 1. Casselbury is second on the team with 12 singles wins, while both Groener and Goodman have 11 each. Groener tops the Green and Gold with 11 doubles wins, including a 7-2 mark playing alongside Goodman during the dual-match campaign.
 
Scouting East Carolina
East Carolina has won seven-straight matches to improve to 11-4 on the year. The Pirates face Hampton on Friday morning, before traveling to Williamsburg. During its spring break trip to Puerto Rico, ECU won five matches by a combined 26-0. W&M and ECU have one common opponent in N.C. State. Both teams fell to the Wolfpack with the Tribe dropping a narrow 4-3 decision and the Pirates falling 5-2. W&M will be the second of four matches against CAA foes for ECU.  The Pirates dropped a 4-3 tilt at UNCW on Feb. 19 and will travel to Charleston and host Elon later this season. Freshman Celia Ruiz owns the Pirates top record at 14-3 overall, including a 9-1 mark at top two singles posts. Junior Michelle Castro leads ECU with 15 singles wins and sports a 9-4 dual-match ledger. Both senior Katie Hoch and sophomore Sarah Sarjoo have 14 singles on the season. Hoch is 9-2 in dual-match competition, while Sarjoo is 11-2. Senior Nicole LaDuca and Ruiz comprise the top Pirates doubles team at 15-3 overall and 12-1 at No. 1.
 
Series History: W&M vs. East Carolina
The Tribe and Pirates will meet for the second time in the last three seasons. W&M, which downed ECU, 7-0, during the 2014 season at the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center, is 4-0 all-time against East Carolina. Three of those four wins have come in Williamsburg.
 
Scouting Marshall
Marshall sits at 5-8 on the year, following a 4-3 win over West Virginia on March 11. During the match with the Mountaineers, the Thundering Herd won the doubles point with victories at the top two spots, before receiving singles wins from Derya Turhan (No. 1), Anna Pomyatinskaya (No. 4) and the clincher from Marija Bogicevic at No. 6. The win snapped a six-match losing streak for Marshall, who opened the year nationally ranked and won four of its first six matches. W&M and Marshall have two common opponents in Penn State and top-10 South Carolina. Marshall fell to both by scores of 6-1 and 4-0, respectively, while W&M posted a 4-3 win over Penn State and a 5-2 victory over the Gamecocks. The Thundering Herd owns wins over Yale (4-3), Morehead State (7-0), Radford (6-1) and Louisville (4-3).  Marshall has played a number of close matches with six of its last eight coming down to 4-3 scores, including each of the three. Unfortunately for the Thundering Herd, they have lost four of those 4-3 matches, including a setback to No. 29-ranked Rice. Turhan is the Herd's top player, and she is ranked No. 122 nationally. She owns a 17-7 overall mark, including a 9-2 ledger at No. 1. Included in her list of victories are nationally-ranked wins over the No. 41 player from Virginia Tech and the No. 84-ranked Rice player. Rachel Morales ranks second on the team with 13 singles wins, including an 8-3 record at No. 2 and No. 3. Morales and Turham combine to form Marshall's top doubles team and are 5-4 at No. 1.
 
Series History: W&M vs. Marshall
The Tribe is 9-2 all-time against Marshall. W&M won the first nine meetings between the two teams, before the Thundering Herd squeaked out a 4-3 victory over the Green and Gold in Williamsburg in 2011. Marshall made it two in a row last season with a 4-2 victory over W&M in Huntington, W.Va.