ELON, N.C. – For a 24th time in the league's 32-year history, the Colonial Athletic Association Championship returns to Williamsburg with the William & Mary women's tennis team. The No. 36-ranked Tribe won the league crown for the third time in its four seasons under head coach Tyler Thomson and in the process, denied first-time championship performer James Madison, 4-1, on Sunday afternoon at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Facility.
 
The Green and Gold, which won for the fifth straight match to improve to 18-6 on the year, once again displayed its championship depth as sophomore Maria Groener provided the title clincher from the No. 6 spot. W&M captured the doubles point for the second consecutive day and did not drop a pairs match during the CAA tournament. Junior Marie Faure and sophomore Lauren Goodman dominated at the top doubles post against the Dukes, before claiming straight sets singles wins for the other Tribe points on the afternoon.

Over the three days of the CAA Championship, W&M received at least one victory from every singles and doubles position, and the three clinching singles wins came from the bottom half of the Tribe lineup. JMU, who earned its first CAA championship match appearance since the league moved to its head-to-head format in 1995 thanks to a 4-1 win over No. 2 seed Elon in the semifinals, finished the season at 18-7, marking its most wins in 25 years.
 
The Tribe opened the match by taking the doubles point with victories at No. 1 and No. 3. Faure and Goodman remained perfect at the top post with a convincing 6-1 triumph over JMU's Abby Amos and Rebecca Harris. At the third position, senior Julia Casselbury and sophomore Olivia Thaler trailed the Dukes' Emma Petersen and Bella Heidenreich 2-1 early, but bounced back to take a 4-3 lead. The Green and Gold tandem won the final two games of the match to claim a 6-4 triumph and give W&M a 1-0 lead on the scoreboard.
 
Following their dominating doubles performance, Goodman and Faure carried the momentum over to singles and sparked a strong Tribe start. In total, W&M won the opening set in five of the six singles matches. At No. 3, Goodman controlled from the outset and quickly extended in the Tribe's lead to 2-0. The CAA Rookie of the Year dropped just one game in routing Kimmy Herrock, 6-0, 6-1. Herrock entered the match at 23-8 overall and 12-1 at the No. 3 post. Goodman won for the eighth time in her last nine matches, while running her singles ledger to 18-7. 
 
After the Dukes got on the board with a singles win at No. 4, Faure brought W&M to the brink of the league title with a win at the second spot. She upended All-CAA Second Teamer Rachel Nelson, 6-2, 7-5, to push her season ledger to 16-7.
 
Senior Elizaveta Nemchinov and Thaler both led by a set at No. 1 and No. 5, but it was Groener who closed out the championship with her fourth clinching victory of the season. The Tribe sophomore handed Rebecca Harris her first dual-match loss at the No. 6 position, picking up a 6-1, 6-4 triumph. Harris entered the match at 24-5 overall, 17-2 in duals and 11-0 at No. 6, but on the other side, Groener extended her win streak to nine matches. She improved to 17-11 overall and 13-7 in dual-match play.
 
By virtue of the league crown, W&M earned the CAA's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and will make its 21st all-time appearance in the national event. The NCAA Selection Show is scheduled for Tuesday, May 3, at 5 p.m., and will be streamed live online at NCAA.com. The NCAA Regionals are slated for May 13-15 at campus sites throughout the country. The final rounds of the NCAA Championships, along with the individual events, are set for May 19-30 with the University of Tulsa hosting at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Okla.
 
#1 William & Mary 4, #3 James Madison 1
Singles
No. 1 – #108 Elizaveta Nemchinov (W&M) vs. Timea Guibe (JMU) – DNF, 6-2, 5-5
No. 2 – Marie Faure (W&M) def. Rachel Nelson (JMU) – 6-2, 7-5
No. 3 – Lauren Goodman (W&M) def. Kimmy Herrock (JMU) – 6-0, 6-1
No. 4 – Emma Peterson (JMU) def. Julia Casselbury (W&M) – 6-2, 6-1
No. 5 – Olivia Thaler (W&M) vs. Dylan Owens (JMU) – DNF, 6-2, 5-4
No. 6 – Maria Groener (W&M) def. Rebecca Harris (JMU) – 6-1, 6-4
Finishing Order: 3, 4, 2, 6*
 
Doubles
No. 1 – Faure/Goodman (W&M) def. Amos/Harris (JMU) – 6-1
No. 2 – Groener/Nemchinov (W&M) vs. Guibe/Herrock (JMU) – DNF, 6-5
No. 3 – Casselbury/Thaler (W&M) def. Petersen/Heidenreich (JMU) – 6-4
Finishing Order: 1, 3*