WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The William & Mary women's tennis team closed out its opening weekend of competition with a resounding 7-0 win over CAA counterpart Elon on Sunday afternoon. The Green and Gold (2-0) rallied to take the doubles point with wins at the top two positions, before sweeping singles, including five of six in straight sets, to hand Elon (3-1) its first loss of the year.
 
The Tribe's top doubles team of senior Marie Faure and sophomore Lauren Goodman trailed 3-2 in the early going, but won the final four games to upend Natalia Janowicz and Maria Paraja, 6-3. The tandem improved to 5-3 overall and a perfect 2-0 at No. 1. Junior Olivia Thaler and freshman Rosie Cheng clinched the doubles point with a come-from-behind win at the second spot. Elon's Olivia Lucas and Erica Braschi jumped out to 3-0 lead and led 5-3, before the Tribe tandem won four-straight games in claiming a 7-5 triumph. Thaler and Cheng won for the second time on the weekend at No. 3 and improved to 3-1.
 
Junior Maria Groener made her first appearance of the dual-match season, dominating Elon's Alex Koniaev. The Tribe junior did not drop a set in rolling a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Koniaev, who entered the match at 8-2 on the year. It was Groener's fifth win of the season.
 
Goodman wrapped up a perfect weekend between singles and doubles with a commanding win at No. 3 to up the Tribe lead to 3-0. The Tribe sophomore dropped just three games in bouncing Paraja, 6-2, 6-1, to even her season mark at 5-5.
 
Thaler dropped just two games in rolling to a win at No. 5 to clinch the Tribe victory. She trounced the Phoenix's Kirsten Ward, 6-2, 6-0, in picking up her sixth win of the year and improved to 2-0 in dual-match play.
 
Faure and junior Ekaterina Stepanova tallied straight-set wins at the top two positions during the sweep. Faure bounced Suzanne Zenoni, 6-3, 6-3, at No. 2 to improve her team-leading record to 12-4. Stepanova won her second straight, downing a First-Team All-CAA player in Erica Braschi, 6-3, 6-4, at No. 1. She upped her season ledger to 5-3.
 
Cheng notched her first career dual-match win with a come-from-behind three-set win at No. 4. Elon's Olivia Lucas took the opening set, 6-4, before the Tribe rookie bounced back to take the second, 6-2. In the third-set super tiebreaker, Cheng downed her All-CAA counterpart, 10-8.
 
The Tribe hits the road to take part in the ITA Kickoff Weekend in Durham, N.C., Jan. 28-29. W&M faces host and No. 10 Duke on Saturday, Jan. 28, at 2 p.m. The other match-up kickoff match-up pits Northwestern and Tulsa earlier on Saturday. The winners meet on Sunday for a spot in the ITA Indoor National Championship event, while the consolation begins Sunday.
 
William & Mary 7, Elon 0
Singles
No. 1 – Ekaterina Stepanova (W&M) def. Erica Braschi (Elon) – 6-3, 6-4
No. 2 – Marie Faure (W&M) def. Suzanne Zenoni (Elon) – 6-3, 6-3
No. 3 – Lauren Goodman (W&M) def. Maria Paraja (Elon) – 6-2, 6-1
No. 4 – Rosie Cheng (W&M) def. Olivia Lucas (Elon) – 4-6, 6-2, 10-8
No. 5 – Olivia Thaler (W&M) def. Kirsten Ward (Elon) – 6-2, 6-0
No. 6 – Maria Groener (W&M) def. Alex Koniaev (Elon) – 6-0, 6-0
Finishing Order: 6, 3, 5*, 2, 4, 1
 
Doubles
No. 1 – Faure/Goodman (W&M) def. Janowicz/Paraja (Elon) – 6-3
No. 2 – Cheng/Thaler (W&M) def. Lucas/Braschi (Elon) – 7-5
No. 3 – Ward/Zenoni (Elon) def. Madson/Stepanova (W&M) – 7-6 (6)
Finishing Order: 1, 2*, 3