RICHMOND, Va. – The No. 50 William & Mary women's tennis team closed out the regular season in style with its second-straight win over Commonwealth rival, bouncing VCU, 5-2, on Saturday afternoon at the Thalhimer Tennis Center. The Tribe (11-10) posted its first win over the Rams (13-8) since 2011, while senior Marie Faure, sophomore Lauren Goodman and freshman Natalia Perry picked up victories in both singles and doubles play.
 
The Tribe opened by taking the doubles point for the sixth time in the last seven matches with victories at No. 1 and No. 3. Junior Cecily Wuenscher  and Perry gave W&M the early lead with a 6-2 win over Gabriela Araujo and Isabella Capato Camargo at the third post. The Tribe duo improved to 6-3 at No. 3 and 7-6 overall. W&M's top duo of Faure and Goodman clinched the doubles point for the second-straight contest via a 6-4 victory over Janina Braun and Magda Aubets. They pushed their season mark to 13-8, including a 10-5 mark at No. 1.
 
Goodman quickly pushed the Tribe lead to 2-0, dropping just one game in posting a win at No. 5. The Tribe sophomore made quick work of Noumea Witmus, 6-1, 6-0, for her third win in the last four matches. Goodman owns 13 wins on the year, including 10 in dual-match competition.
 
Freshman Rosie Cheng won for the 10th time in her last 11 matches to bring the Green and Gold within a victory of the team triumph. She upended Gabriela Araujo, 6-1, 6-3, at No. 4, to extend her ledger to 16-9 overall and 12-4 in dual-match competition.
 
Faure notched the clinching win for the second match in a row, picking up her 20th singles victory in the process. The Tribe senior dropped Magda Aubets, 6-3, 6-2, for her eighth triumph at the No. 2 spot. She won for the third time in her last four matches.
 
Perry and junior Maria Groener rounded out the Tribe victory with triumphs at No. 3 and No. 6, respectively. Perry tallied an impressive win over VCU's Darya Berezhnaya, 6-2, 7-5, at No. 3. The Tribe freshman's 19th win of the year snapped Berezhnaya's 11-match winning streak. Perry won her fourth at the No. 3 position, while the VCU player fell to 20-6 overall and 12-2 in dual-match competition.
 
Groener needed three-sets to top Isabella Capato Camargo for her 11th win of the year. The players split the opening two sets by matching 6-2 scores, before the Tribe junior outlasted her VCU counterpart, 13-11, in the third-set super tiebreaker. Groener improved to 7-6 in dual-match play.
 
The Tribe returns to action when it takes part in the 2017 Colonial Athletic Association Championship, April 20-23. The event will be held at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center in Elon, N.C., for the second-straight year. W&M has won 24 CAA Championships, including crowns in three of the program's four 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 21. The CAA Semifinals are set for Saturday, April 22, at 2 p.m., with the championship match on Sunday, April 23, at 2 p.m. The seeding for the CAA Championship will be released from the conference office early next week.
 
#50 William & Mary 6, VCU 1
Singles
No. 1 – Janina Braun (VCU) def. Ekaterina Stepanova (W&M) – 6-4, 6-3
No. 2 – Marie Faure (W&M) def. Magda Aubets (VCU) – 6-3, 6-2
No. 3 – Natalia Perry (W&M) def. Darya Berezhnaya (VCU) – 6-2, 7-5
No. 4 – Rosie Cheng (W&M) def. Gabriela Araujo (VCU)  – 6-1, 6-3
No. 5 – Lauren Goodman (W&M) def. Noumea Witmus (VCU) – 6-1, 6-0
No. 6 – Maria Groener (W&M) def. Isabella Capato Camargo (VCU) – 6-2, 2-6, 13-11
Finishing Order:  5, 4, 1, 2*, 3, 6
 
Doubles
No. 1 – Faure/Goodman (W&M) def. Braun/Aubets (VCU) – 6-4
No. 2 –Berezhnaya/Witmus (VCU) vs. Stepanova/Cheng (W&M) – DNF, 5-4
No. 3 – Perry/Wuenscher (W&M) def. Araujo/Camargo (VCU) – 6-2
Finishing Order: 3, 1*