WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - After earning a national top-30 ranking for the third time in the last four seasons, the William & Mary women's tennis team hits the road to take on a pair of Big Ten foes this weekend. The Tribe travels to Madison, Wis., where they will face No. 65 Illinois on Saturday, March 5, at 2 p.m., before meeting Wisconsin on Sunday, March 6, at 10 a.m. Both matches will be played Nielsen Tennis Stadium.
 
Scouting #30 William & Mary
After a pair of home wins last week, the Tribe ascended to No. 30 in the Oracle/ITA National Rankings released on March 1. It marked the third time in the last four years that W&M achieved a ranking inside the national top 30. The Green and Gold improved to 8-4 on the year with victories over No. 57 Harvard, 5-2, and in-state foe Liberty, 6-1. Freshman Lauren Goodman highlighted the Tribe effort, posting a perfect 2-0 mark at No. 3 singles. In the process, she earned the CAA Player of the Week honor to become the third different W&M student-athlete to earn the distinction this season. She joined senior Elizaveta Nemchinov (Jan. 27 and Feb. 10) and junior Marie Faure (Feb. 3) in receiving the distinction, giving W&M four of the six weekly singles honors this spring. Nemchinov (No. 1), Faure (No. 2) and sophomore Olivia Thaler each posted two singles wins in the Tribe's victories over Harvard and Liberty. Nemchinov leads the Tribe with 13 singles wins on the year. Fellow senior Julia Casselbury has enjoyed her best season with the Green and Gold, ranking second on the team in singles (11) and doubles (9) wins. Goodman became the third Tribe player with double-digit singles wins, picking up her 10th against Liberty. Sophomore Maria Groener leads the Tribe with a 10-5 doubles record.
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Scouting #65 Illinois
Illinois, who plays Wisconsin on Friday, is 4-5 on the year and ranked No. 65 nationally. The Fighting Illini are coming off a Big Ten opening loss to No. 53 Northwestern, 4-3, last weekend. W&M and Illinois have two common opponents in the nationally-ranked pair of Texas Tech and DePaul. Both teams fell to the Red Raiders, who are currently ranked No. 5 in the country, while the Tribe downed DePaul, 4-2, and the Illini dropped a 4-3 decision to the Blue Demons. All five Illini losses have come to nationally-ranked opponents, including setbacks to No. 22 Kentucky and No. 33 Notre Dame. Louise Kwong and Alexis Casati have played at the top two singles posts. Kwong, who is ranked No. 113 nationally in singles, is 9-7 overall and 4-4 in duals. Daniela Pedraza Novak leads the team with 12 singles wins, while Madie Baillon owns the top dual-match mark at 6-2. Illinois has been incredibility strong in doubles this season, winning the doubles point in eight of its nine matches. Overall, the Illini are 19-4 as a team in dual-match doubles play. Kwong and Ines Vias comprise Illinois' top team at 13-5 overall and 5-1 at No. 1.
                                                   
Series History: W&M vs. Illinois
The Tribe is a perfect 5-0 all-time against Illinois. It will be the fourth meeting between the teams at a neutral site. They last played during the 2007 season when W&M downed the Illini, 6-1, in Champaign, Ill. Both teams were ranked during the 2006 meeting in Williamsburg as the No. 19 Tribe knocked off No. 49 Illinois, 7-0.
 
Scouting Wisconsin
The Badgers are 3-6 on the year, having played a difficult schedule that includes seven of its nine contests against nationally-ranked opponents. Wisconsin opened the year with an upset win over No. 44 Houston. The Badgers' six losses have all come to nationally-ranked foes including No. 6 California, No. 9 Texas A&M, No. 10 Texas Tech and No. 30 Fresno State. Last weekend, Wisconsin dropped a pair of close matches to No. 56 Minnesota, 5-2, and No. 66 Utah, 4-3, both at home. The Badgers, who play Illinois on Friday before hosting the Tribe on Sunday, also own wins over Tulane and Marquette. Lauren Chypyha is UW's top player with a 21-4 overall record and a 5-1 mark at No. 1. She is ranked No. 44 nationally in singles. Ekaterina Stepanova also own an impressive 11-3 record, including a 5-2 mark at No. 2 singles. Chypyha and Kendall Kirsch are the Badgers' top doubles team at 10-7 overall. Lauren Burich and Kelsey Grambeau are 14-9 in pairs action, playing primarily at No. 3.
 
Series History: W&M vs. Wisconsin
W&M leads the all-time series with the Badgers at 8-2 and has won the last seven meetings between the teams. Both Wisconsin wins have been in Madison where the Tribe holds a 4-2 advantage. Each of the last three meetings has been decided by 4-3 scores, including the last encounter in Williamsburg during the 2012 season. It will be the first meeting in Madison since 2010 when the Tribe tallied a 4-3 win over the Badgers.