WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The William & Mary women's tennis team competes in its second straight NCAA Tournament and 21st in program history, beginning on Friday morning in Durham, N.C. The No. 38-ranked Tribe opens NCAA play against No. 24 Texas on Friday at 10 a.m., while Duke, which is the No. 9 seed in the NCAA Championship and host of the regional, faces Atlantic 10 Champion VCU in the other match-up.
 
Live stats and video for the regional will be available at GoDuke.com. Click HERE for the link. Catch up with the Tribe through social media. Follow the Tribe on Twitter @TribeAthletics and for in-game updates @TribeGameDay. Check in with the Tribe on Facebook at WMTribeAthletics, and see what happening with the Green and Gold on Instagram @TribeAthletics.
 
Schedule/Ticket Info
The Durham Regional will be Friday, May 13, and Saturday, May 14, at the Ambler Tennis Stadium, weather permitting. W&M faces Texas at 10 a.m. on Friday with the Duke-VCU tilt set for 1 p.m. The regional final is slated for noon on Saturday with the winner advancing to the NCAA Round of 16 at Tulsa. Tickets for the event are $5 for adults and $3 for students (with student ID). Children 2 & under are free. Tickets are now available for purchase online  and over the phone (919-681-BLUE).
 
W&M's NCAA History
The Tribe is making its 21st appearance in the NCAA Championship. The Green and Gold's 21 appearances rank 23rd nationally and third among non Power 5 schools. W&M is 21-20 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, including an 18-10 mark at the regional level. The Tribe's 21 wins in the NCAA Tournament rank 21st nationally and are second, only to Pepperdine, among non Power 5 programs. On seven occasions, W&M advanced to the round of 16 at the NCAA Championship, including back-to-back quarterfinal appearances in 1997 and 1998. In nine of the Green and Gold's last 14 NCAA Tournament appearances, the Tribe won at least one match, but will look for its first NCAA victory since 2008. Click HERE for more in W&M's complete NCAA Tournament history.
 
Scouting #38 William & Mary
The Tribe won its 24th Colonial Athletic Association Championship on April 24, downing in-state James Madison, 4-1, to secure the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Green and Gold have been ranked among the national top 40 each of the last 10 weeks. W&M came in at No. 38 in the latest standing on May 5, its second straight poll in that spot. W&M, which is 18-6 on the year, enters the NCAA Tournament having won five straight matches. The Tribe puts its depth on display in capturing the CAA Championship. W&M received victories from each of its six singles positions and all three doubles posts during the event. In fact, the Green and Gold's clinching wins came from the bottom three singles positions. Senior Julia Casselbury iced the quarterfinal win over Hofstra with a win at No. 4, while sophomore Olivia Thaler cemented the 4-3 win over Charleston in the semifinals with triumph at No. 5. Sophomore Maria Groener provided the title clincher from the No. 6 spot against JMU. Senior Elizaveta Nemchinov, the two-time CAA Player of the Year, leads W&M in singles wins with 19, including 13 at No. 1. She is currently ranked No. 99 nationally in singles. The CAA Rookie of the Year, freshman Lauren Goodman owns an 18-7 singles ledger, while Groener tallied 17 singles victories. Both Casselbury and junior Marie Faure, who was a First Team All-CAA pick in both singles and doubles, have 16 singles wins on the year. Of the Tribe's 18 victories this season, seven have come against nationally-ranked competition, including triumphs over No. 13 South Carolina, No. 41 Rice, No. 51 Illinois, No. 56 Harvard, No. 65 DePaul, No. 68 Old Dominion, and No. 72 Yale.
 
NCAA Individual Championships Selections
Along with an appearance in the NCAA Championship as a team, W&M placed an athlete in the NCAA Individual Championship for the 27th time in the last 31 years and the third time in four years under head coach Tyler Thomson. Senior Elizaveta Nemchinov, who is ranked No. 99 nationally, was selected to the 64-player singles championship for the second straight season.  She became the eighth player in program history to be selected to the singles championship on multiple occasions. Nemchinov's selection to the NCAA Individual Championship is the 34th time a Tribe player earned a spot in the singles event. As the top-ranked player in the Colonial Athletic Association, she garnered one of 15 automatic bids.
 
W&M Theme to CAA Awards
Once again, the Tribe dominated the league awards, highlighted by senior Elizaveta Nemchinov being named the CAA Player of the Year for the second straight season. She became the sixth player in CAA history and third Tribe student-athlete to be a repeat winner of the league's top award. Freshman Lauren Goodman took home the other major player award, becoming the third W&M student-athlete in the last four years and 10th overall to be named the CAA Rookie of the Year. In total, the Tribe led the league with three singles players and two doubles pairs honored on the All-CAA teams. Nemchinov was a First Team All-CAA pick in both singles and doubles for the third consecutive year. She became just the third player in program history, along with Megan Moulton-Levy '08 and Katarina Zoricic '09, to be named First Team All-CAA in singles during all four seasons of her career. Junior Marie Faure joined Nemchinov as the only players in the league to be named First Team All-CAA in both singles and doubles. Despite being one of only three players in the CAA with a current nationally-ranked win, downing NCAA Singles Championship qualifier and No. 58 ranked Caroline Dailey of South Carolina, Goodman was selected to the league's second team in both singles and doubles. Sophomore Maria Groener paired with Goodman to comprise the Tribe's All-CAA second team pair and was also selected to the CAA All-Academic Team. It marked the second straight season that Groener earned second team all-league distinction in doubles.

Scouting #24 Texas
Texas enters the NCAA Tournament at 14-8 overall and has been ranked in the ITA National Top 25 each of the last four weeks. The Longhorns, which have been No. 24 each of the last two weeks, went 6-3 in the Big 12.  In its most recent contest, UT fell in the Big 12 Quarterfinals to Texas Tech, 4-3, on April 29. The Longhorns are 8-8 against nationally-ranked teams this season and own victories over two national seeds in No. 10 Michigan and No. 16 Texas Tech. All-American Breaunna Addison, who is ranked No. 10 nationally, leads Texas at 34-3 overall, including an 18-1 mark at No. 1. She was named the ITA Texas Region Senior Player of the Year earlier this week and was selected to the NCAA Championship in singles for the fourth straight season. Neda Koprcina is ranked No. 122 in singles and was recently named the ITA Texas Region Player of Watch. She owns a 23-8 overall singles record, a 19-1 mark in dual matches and a spotless 8-0 record in Big 12 singles action. In doubles, Addison and Danielle Wagland were selected to the NCAA Championships and are ranked No. 16 nationally. W&M and Texas have two common opponents in Texas Tech and Rice. W&M went 1-1 against the pair with a victory over Rice, while the Longhorns were 1-2 having split two matches with the Red Raiders.
 
Series History: W&M vs. Texas
Texas leads the all-time series with W&M at 13-3, including victories in the last two meetings. The teams last met in the opening round of the 2013 NCAA Tournament with the Longhorns downing W&M, 4-0, in Charlottesville.  The last Tribe victory came in 2009 when W&M upset No. 16 Texas, 4-3, at the ITA Kickoff Weekend in Williamsburg. Friday will be the third meeting in the NCAA Tournament between the teams. Texas also downed W&M during the 1992 and 1996 events.
 
Scouting #9 Duke
The Blue Devils have been ranked among the top 10 nationally since February and entered the NCAA at No. 9. Duke is 18-6 on the year, including an 11-3 mark in the ACC. The Blue Devils fell to No. 16 Virginia, 4-2, its last time out in the ACC Quarterfinals. Duke has been ranked as high as No. 6 nationally and owns 15 victories over nationally-ranked competition. Beatrice Capra, who is ranked No. 37 nationally, was named the ITA Carolina Region Senior Player of the Year earlier this week. Capra is one of four nationally-ranked singles players for the Blue Devils, including No. 55 Kaitlyn McCarthy, No. 65 Chalena Scholl and No. 118 Samantha Harris. McCarthy leads Duke in singles wins with 24, while both Scholl and Harris have 21 each. The Blue Devils have a trio of nationally-ranked doubles teams in the lineup, highlighted by the pair of Capra and Ellyse Hamlin, who are ranked No. 17 nationally. Scholl and Jessica Ho come in No. 59 as a pair, while the team of Harris and McCarthy are No. 74 nationally.
 
Series History: W&M vs. Duke
Duke leads the all-time series with the Tribe at 25-9, including a 13-2 mark in Durham. In each of the last 21 meetings with W&M, the Blue Devils have been ranked in the national top 10. The Tribe posted five wins over the Duke teams ranked in the top five, including back-to-back wins over No. 5-ranked teams in 2005 and 2006. The Blue Devils won the last meeting between the teams in 2015, topping the Tribe, 4-3, in Williamsburg. W&M and Duke have met on three occasions in the NCAA Tournament during the 2003, 2004 and 2008 campaigns.
 
Scouting VCU
VCU qualified for its 11th straight NCAA Tournament by winning the Atlantic 10 Championship. The Rams have won seven straight matches entering the NCAA Tournament, including a 4-2 triumph in the A-10 title match over Davidson. VCU sits at 12-9 on the year. Five VCU players were named All-Atlantic 10. Senior Olga Barshcheuskaya and freshman Anna Rasmussen were selected to the conference's first team. Barshcheuskaya tallied six wins at the No. 1 singles spot for the Rams, while Rasmussen was named the league's most outstanding rookie. She racked up an 18-8 overall record with 14 wins at the No. 1 and No. 2 positions. Freshmen Janina Braun and Magda Aubets along with sophomore Darya Berezhnaya garnered all-conference second team honors. Braun was 16-4 in dual-match play for the Rams, including an impressive 10-1 at No. 4. Barshcheuskaya and Berezhnaya comprised the Rams top doubles team, going 12-3 at No. 1. Rasmussen and Braun tallied an 11-7 mark playing at the top two positions.
 
Series History: W&M vs. VCU
The Tribe leads the all-time series with VCU at 38-11. Longtime CAA rivals, VCU has won seven of the last eight meetings. W&M and VCU have met at a neutral site on eight occasions with the Tribe holding a 5-3 advantage. The teams have met once in the NCAA Tournament with the Tribe downing the-No. 24 VCU, 5-3, in Blacksburg during the 1998 event.