WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The No. 36 William & Mary women's tennis team wraps up the regular season when it travels to former CAA foe and No. 62-ranked Old Dominion on Saturday, April 9. The nationally-ranked match-up is slated for a 2 p.m. start time at the Folkes-Stevens Center and will be run concurrent to the Tribe-Monarch men's tennis match at the facility.
Scouting #36 William & Mary The Tribe was ranked in the national top 40 for the sixth-straight week, coming in at No. 36 on Tuesday. The Green and Gold split its final two home matches last week and enters its regular-season finale at 14-6. The Tribe suffered a 4-3 setback to Houston, before upending Montana, 6-1, on Senior Day. In the win over the Grizzlies, the senior trio of
Elizaveta Nemchinov,
Julia Casselbury and
Jackie Lee celebrated Senior Day, going a perfect 5-0. Nemchinov and Casselbury clinched the doubles point, posting a win at No. 2, while Lee teamed with sophomore
Maria Groener to get a victory at No. 3. Nemchinov (No. 1) and Casselbury (No. 3) recorded singles wins in the triumph. Junior
Marie Faure earned her second national ranking of the season at No. 123 on Tuesday. She improved to 13-6 on the year with a win at No. 2 singles against Montana. Sophomore
Olivia Thaler recorded a pair of singles wins during the week, both in three sets. Last week, a quartet of Tribe players earned Provost Awards for their success in the classroom. Sophomores
Cecily Wuenscher, Groener and Thaler as well as freshman
Lauren Goodman received the honor at the 14th annual awards reception.
Scouting #62 Old Dominion The Monarchs enter the weekend winners of five straight. ODU sits at 12-5 on the year and are currently ranked No. 62 nationally. The Monarchs have been ranked as high as No. 57 nationally, garnering the spot in each of the first three weeks of the year. ODU owns four nationally-ranked wins, knocking off No. 49 Indiana, 4-3, and No. 57 Harvard, 4-2. Three of Old Dominion's five losses have to nationally-ranked competition, including No. 4 Georgia, No. 37 Florida State and No. 42 Arkansas. The Tribe and Monarchs have two common opponents in Harvard and Montana with both teams posting two victories. Borislava Botusharova, who was ranked as high as No. 82 nationally in singles, holds down the No. 1 position for ODU, sporting an 8-1 record at the spot. Nataliya Vlasova (No. 2) and Ingrid Vojcinakova (No. 4) have each won their last five singles matches. ODU's doubles duo of Nikol Hristova and Nataliya Vlasova is 8-2 on the year and undefeated at the No. 2 post.
Series History: W&M vs. Old DominionW&M leads the all-time series with the Monarchs at 48-5, including a 14-2 mark in Norfolk. The Tribe won 12 straight in the series from 2002-12, but the teams have split the last four meetings. Last season, the Green and Gold picked up a 4-1 win over the Monarchs in Williamsburg. ODU has won the last two meetings in Norfolk by 4-3 scores. The 2016 meeting marks the 28th straight season that the teams have met.
Up NextThe Tribe returns to action when it takes part in the 2016 Colonial Athletic Association Championship, April 21-24. The event will be held for the first time at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center in Elon, N.C. W&M has won 23 CAA Championships, including crowns in two of the program's three seasons under head coach
Tyler Thomson. The Tribe will more than likely be the No. 1 seed in the CAA Tournament and open play in the quarterfinals on Friday, April 22, at 9 a.m. The CAA Semifinals are set for 2 p.m., on Saturday, April 23, with the championship match on Sunday, April 24, at 2 p.m.
