ELON, N.C. – The No. 50-ranked William & Mary women's tennis team cruised to a 4-0 win over Drexel in the Colonial Athletic Association Quarterfinals on Friday morning at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center. The two-time defending league champion and No. 1-seeded Tribe (12-10) captured the doubles point for the seventh time in the last eight matches, before junior Ekaterina Stepanova, freshman Rosie Cheng, and sophomore Lauren Goodman posted singles wins to dispatched of the Dragons (16-9).
 
The Tribe opened by claiming the doubles point with victories at No. 2 and No. 3. Junior Ceciley Wuenscher and freshman Natalia Perry gave W&M the early advantage, tallying their fourth win in the last five matches. The tandem upended Ghita Benhadi and Kendra Bunch, 6-4, at the No. 2 spot to improve to 7-3 in duals. Junior Maria Groener and Cheng clinched the point with a tiebreaker win at the No. 3. The Green and Gold pair rolled in the tiebreaker, bouncing Lea Winkler and Honami Yazawa, 7-1, evening its record at 3-3.
 
Cheng quickly extended the Tribe's lead to 2-0 with a straight-sets win at the No. 4 post. She won the final two games to take the first set, 6-4, and then blitzed Winkler in the second, 6-0, for her 11th victory in the last 12 matches. Cheng pushed her season ledger to 17-9, including a 13-4 dual-match mark and a 6-2 record at No. 4.
 
Stepanova tallied her 50th career win with a triumph at the top singles post. She rolled to a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Yazawa for her 10th win at the No. 1 position. Stepanova improved to 15-12 on the year.
 
Goodman put the finishing touches on the team triumph with a straight-sets victory at No. 5. The Tribe sophomore topped Clary Rodriguez Cruz, 7-5, 6-0, for her third-straight win. Goodman evened her overall record at 14-14, while extending her dual-match standing to 11-9 and 4-2 at No. 5.
 
The Tribe faces No. 4 seed James Madison in the CAA Semifinals at 8:30 a.m., on Saturday, April 22. Please note the moved up start time due to the forecast of rain. It will be a rematch of last season's championship match in which W&M defeated JMU, 4-1.The Dukes earned a spot in the semifinals thanks to a 4-0 win over No. 5 Delaware on Friday. Earlier this season, the Green and Gold downed James Madison, 6-1, in Williamsburg.
 
Elon University is the host of the 2017 CAA Championship at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center. The title match is set for 10 a.m. on Sunday, April 23, and the winner earns the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Admission is free for everyday of the championship. W&M owns 24 of the CAA's 32 all-time women's tennis championships. For more information, log on the Tennis Championship page on CAASports.com. Click HERE to check out league's championship page and HERE for the live stats links.
 
#50 William & Mary 4, Drexel 0
Singles
No. 1 – Ekaterina Stepanova (W&M) def. Honami Yazawa (Drexel) – 6-1, 6-4
No. 2 – Marie Faure (W&M) vs. Ghita Benhadi (Drexel) – DNF, 6-0, 5-6
No. 3 – Natalia Perry (W&M) vs. Kendra Bunch (Drexel) – DNF, 6-4, 3-4
No. 4 – Rosie Cheng (W&M) def. Lea Winkler (Drexel) – 6-4, 6-0
No. 5 – Lauren Goodman (W&M) def. Clary Rodriguez Cruz (Drexel) – 7-5, 6-0
No. 6 – Maria Groener (W&M) vs. Ryshena Providence (Drexel) – DNF, 6-3, 4-1
Finishing Order: 4, 1, 5*
 
Doubles
No. 1 – #79 Faure/Goodman (W&M) vs. Rodriguez Cruz/Providence (Drexel) – DNF, 6-6
No. 2 – Perry/Wuenscher (W&M) def. Benhadi/Bunch (Drexel) – 6-4
No. 3 – Cheng/Groener (W&M) def. Winkler/Yazawa (Drexel) – 7-6 (1)
Finishing Order: 2, 3*