WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - The William & Mary women's tennis team heads to Chapel Hill, N.C., to take part in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend at North Carolina, Jan. 26-27. The Green and Gold faces Big Ten foe Illinois at 10 a.m., on Friday at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center. The other regional match pits No. 5 North Carolina against reigning Big South Champion Winthrop. The finals and consolation of the regional are set for 3:30 p.m., and 6 p.m., on Saturday, Jan. 27.  The winner of the regional will earn a spot in the ITA National Indoor Championship, Feb. 9-12. Live stats for the event will be available at GoHeels.com.
 
The Tribe takes part in the ITA Kick-Off weekend for the eighth time in the 10-year history of the event. Twice, W&M won its opening-round match and played for a spot in the ITA National Team Indoor Championship. The Green and Gold knocked off then-No. 16 Texas in Williamsburg in 2009, and a year later, downed Georgia State in the opening round at Georgia. Last season, the Tribe suffered a 4-0 loss at No. 10 Duke, before dropping a 4-1 decision to Tulsa in the consolation round.
 
Host sites for Kick-Off Weekend were determined using the final 2017 Oracle/ITA Collegiate Tennis Rankings. A draft was held to fill the No.'s 2-4 seeds at all locations, again using the final national team rankings as a guide to determine draft order. The 15 regional site winners earn an invitation to the ITA National Women's Tennis Indoor Championship at Wisconsin, Feb. 9-12. The Tribe has competed in the National Team Indoor Championship on 12 occasions in its history.
 
Scouting the Tribe
After opening the season with a 4-3 win over Florida Atlantic, the Tribe suffered a pair of setbacks to power conference competition against No. 5 North Carolina and Tennessee last weekend. Sophomore Rosie Cheng enjoyed a strong weekend at the No. 2 singles post. She took the No. 11-ranked player in the country from North Carolina to three sets, before knocking off Tennessee's Elizabeth Profit in three sets. In the opener with FAU, W&M dominated doubles action with convincing wins at No. 1 and No. 3. In singles, seniors Ekaterina Stepanova and Olivia Thaler posted singles wins at No. 3 and No. 4, while junior Lauren Goodman clinched the victory by winning at No. 5 singles spot. Junior Clara Tanielian leads the Tribe with 12 singles wins, while Thaler is close behind with 11. Tanielian is also ranked No. 68 nationally in the singles poll released in November. Under head coach Tyler Thomson, the Tribe owns 17 wins against Power Five Conference opponents. As a program, the Tribe has won eight-straight matches against the Big Ten since 2012, including seven under Thomson. Included in the stretch of Big Ten victories are wins over Penn State, Maryland, Illinois and Wisconsin.
 
Scouting Illinois
Illinois sits at 2-0 on the season after a home doubleheader sweep of Florida State, 4-1, and Eastern Illinois, 7-0, on Sunday. The Fighting Illini finished last season at 14-13 and topped a FSU team that finished 2017 ranked No. 30 nationally. Asuka Kawai (No. 1), Mia Rabinowitz (No. 2) and Grace Tapak  (No. 5 and No. 6) each tallied a pair of singles wins in the doubleheader sweep. Kawai is currently ranked No. 114 nationally in singles, while Jaclyn Switkes and Emilee Duong garnred the No. 45 spot in the national doubles standings.
 
Series History: W&M vs. Illinois
W&M and Illinois meet for the second time in the last three years. W&M leads the all-time series at 6-0, including a 5-2 win over the Fighting Illini at Wisconsin in 2016.  Maria Groener clinched the team triumph with a win at the No. 6 spot. It will mark the fifth time in seven meetings that the Tribe and Illini have met at a neutral site.
 
Scouting No. 5 North Carolina
The Tar Heels, who were once again ranked No. 5 in the third poll of the season on Wednesday, opened the year with four-straight 7-0 wins as part of a two doubleheaders. UNC downed the Tribe in Williamsburg, 7-0, on Jan. 20, before topping Richmond, 7-0, in its second match of the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center. North Carolina followed a doubleheader sweep of Davidson and East Carolina at home on Jan. 23.  Freshman Alle Sanford leads the way for UNC at No. 9 in the country and during the fall won the Oracle ITA Masters Championship. Sophomore Makenna Jones is ranked No. 11 nationally followed by No. 18 Jessie Aney, No. 38 Sara Daavettila and No. 124 Chloe Ouellet-Pizer. In doubles, Aney and Alexa Grahamare ranked No. 18 nationally, while Sanford and Daavettila are No. 37. The former beat the latter for the Carolina Region Championship during the fall. Ouellet-Pizer is ranked in doubles with two partners coming in No. 51 with Jones and No. 53 with Marika Akkerman.
 
Series History: W&M vs. North Carolina
W&M and North Carolina have met on 22 previous occasions with the Tar Heels holding a 15-7 advantage, including a 7-0 win in Williamsburg on Jan. 20. UNC is 7-3 against W&M in Chapel Hill. The Tribe last faced UNC in Chapel Hill in 2004, while the Tribe's last victory at UNC came in 2000. W&M won four straight in the series between 1994 and 2000.
 
Scouting Winthrop
Winthrop opens its 2018 campaign at the ITA Kick-off Weekend. The Eagles are coming off a 19-6 record last season, and they went on to win the Big South Championship and advance to the NCAA Tournament. Junior Lauren Proctor leads the way for Winthrop and is ranked No. 15 nationally in singles. A two-time Big South Player of the Year, she won the ITA National Summer Singles Championship over the summer and claimed the ITA Carolina Region Championship during the fall. Proctor and Megan Kauffman are rated No. 50 nationally in the ITA National Doubles Rankings.
 
Series History: W&M vs. Winthrop
W&M and Winthrop have split the previous two meetings. The Tribe downed the Eagles, 7-0, in 2007, while Winthrop won an ITA Kickoff Weekend match over the Tribe 4-3 in Gainesville as part of the 2011 event.

Up Next
The Tribe travels to Dartmouth for a pair of matches, Feb. 3-4. W&M faces ACC foe Boston College on Saturday, Feb. 3, at 1 p.m., before facing the Big Green on Sunday at 11 a.m.