CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Sophomore Rosie Chang upset a national top-15 opponent and senior Olivia Thaler pulled out the come-from-behind three-set clincher as the William & Mary women's tennis team rallied past reigning Big South Champion Winthrop, 4-2, at the ITA Kick-Off Weekend. After dropping the doubles point, W&M (2-3) needed four singles wins and did just that with victories from Cheng, Thaler, junior Lauren Goodman and freshman Vitoria Okuyama.
 
Doubles wins at No. 1 and No. 3 clinched the initial point of the match for the Eagles, before Okuyama pulled W&M even with a straight-sets win at the No. 6 spot. She downed Winthrop's Ellie Burns, 7-5, 6-2, for her ninth win of the year. Winthrop answered with a victory at the second spot to take a 2-1 advantage, and the balance of the contest came down to a quartet of three-set affairs.
 
Playing her fourth nationally-ranked opponent in the first five matches of the season, Cheng posted the Tribe's highest-ranked win since 2015 and the first of her young career. Cheng and two-time Big South Player of the Year Lauren Proctor split the first two sets by matching 6-2 scores. The Tribe sophomore outlasted the nation's No. 15-ranked player in the third, 7-5, for her second-straight win. Proctor enjoyed an impressive summer and fall as she won the ITA Summer National Championship and then claimed the Carolina Region singles title in October.
 
Goodman put W&M in front for good with a three-set win at the No. 4 spot. She claimed the opening set by a 6-2 margin, before Winthrop's Tayla Van Eck responded with a 6-3 triumph in the second. Like Cheng, Goodman held strong in the third with a matching 7-5 victory.
 
At the No. 5 post, Thaler dropped the opening set, 6-3, to the Eagle's Aida Kelic. The Tribe senior rallied to post her team-leading 12th singles win of the season and provide the Green and Gold with the clincher. Thaler won the final two sets by 7-5 scores to dispatch of Kelic.
 
Notes
The Tribe improved to 2-1 all-time against Winthrop and the teams are now 1-1 in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend … Junior Clara Tanielian and freshman Vitoria Okuyama upped their doubles mark to 5-0 on the year and 2-0 in dual-match play with a 6-3 win over Alisa Soloveva and Tayla Van Eck at No. 2 doubles … Okuyama evened her dual-match mark at 1-1 and improved to 9-6 on the season thanks to her victory at No. 6 … Sophomore Rosie Cheng picked up her first nationally-ranked victory and won her second-straight match … Cheng improved to 8-6 overall and evened her dual-match record (2-2) and mark at No. 1 (1-1) … It is the highest ranked singles win for a W&M player since Elizaveta Nemchinov downed the No. 7 ranked player in the country in February of 2015 … Junior Lauren Goodman won her second singles match of the weekend … She upped her season record to 9-7 and her dual-match mark to 3-2 … Senior Olivia Thaler moved into a tie for the team lead in singles wins with her 12th … She boasts a pair of dual-match victories on the year.
 
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.
 
William & Mary 4, Winthrop 2
Singles
No. 1 - Rosie Cheng (W&M) def. #15 Lauren Proctor (WIN) – 6-2, 2-6, 7-5
No. 2 – Alisa Soloveva (WIN) def. #68 Clara Tanielian (W&M) – 7-5, 6-2
No. 3 – Ekaterina Stepanova (W&M) vs. Megan Kauffman (WIN) – DNF, 4-6, 7-6, 4-5
No. 4 – Lauren Goodman (W&M) def. Tayla Van Eck (WIN) – 6-2, 3-6, 7-5
No. 5 – Olivia Thaler (W&M) def. Aida Kelic (WIN)  – 3-6, 7-5, 7-5
No. 6 – Vitoria Okuyama (W&M) def. Ellie Burns (WIN) – 7-5, 6-2
Finishing Order: 6, 2, 1, 4, 5*
 
Doubles
No. 1 – #50 Proctor/Kauffman (WIN) def. Stepanova/Thaler (W&M) – 6-4
No. 2 – Okuyama/Tanielian (W&M) vs. Soloveva/Van Eck (WIN) – 6-3
No. 3 – Kelic/Burns (WIN) def. Perry/Wuenscher (W&M) – 6-3
Finishing Order: 2, 1, 3*