WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The William & Mary women's tennis team swept a doubleheader on Sunday at the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis. The Green and Gold (7-5) downed Georgetown, 6-1, in the morning, before upending in-state foe Richmond, 6-1, in the evening match. Senior Ekaterina Stepanova highlighted the Tribe effort with two wins in both singles and doubles on the day, while juniors Lauren Goodman and Clara Tanielian as well as sophomore Rosie Cheng record a pair of singles triumphs.
 
In the win over Georgetown, the Tribe jumped out to a 1-0 advantage with doubles wins at No. 1 and No. 3. Teaming together for the first time in dual-match play,  Stepanova and Tanielian topped Sara Swift and Sydney Goodson, 6-2, at the top spot. Sophomore Charlotte Madson and freshman Vitoria Okuyama rallied for a tiebreaker win and the clincher at No. 3. The pair upended Drew Spinosa and Cecilia Lynham, 7-6 (7).
 
Cheng (No. 1), Goodman (No. 4) and Tanielian (No. 2) won convincingly in singles action to secure the Green and Gold victory. Cheng, who is ranked No. 86 nationally, dropped just three games in a 6-1, 6-2 win over Swift at the top spot, while Goodman dropped just two in a 6-1, 6-1 triumph of Goodson on the fourth line.
 
Tanielian recorded her first career clincher for the Green and Gold with a win at No. 2. She made quick work of Risa Nakagawa, 6-1, 6-3.
 
Stepanova and senior Olivia Thaler rounded out the Tribe singles wins against Georgetown. Stepanova topped Drew Spinosa, 6-4, 7-5, at No. 3, while Thaler rallied from a come-from-behind three-set win, 3-6, 6-4, 10-7, over Daphne de Chatellus at the fifth post.
 
In the nightcap, W&M won the doubles point for the second time on the day and fourth time this season. Thaler and Stepanova gave the Tribe the lead with a 6-4 win over Lea Owens and Adrienne Haynes at the No. 3. Goodman and sophomore Natalia Perry clinched the initial point of the match with a 6-3 triumph at the two line over Emily Dunbar and Dessi Zlateva.
 
Goodman and Perry carried over the momentum to singles, increasing the Tribe lead to 3-0. Goodman turned in another strong outing, downing Lyndell Giffenig, 6-1, 6-3, at No. 5. Perry saw her first singles action of the day and wasted little time in dispatching of Zlaveta, 6-1, 6-1, on line number two.
 
Stepanova cemented the Tribe's win over the Spiders with a straight-sets triumph at No. 4. She toppled Richmond's Gabby Rosales, 6-2, 6-3, for her second victory of the day.
 
Tanielian (No. 3) and Cheng (No. 1) rounded out the Tribe's victory. Tanielian needed a third-set super tiebreaker to post her 15th win of the year, 6-2, 2-6, 10-6, over Lea Owens at the third spot. Like Tanielian, Cheng posted her second win of the day and her 12th of the year, bouncing Emily Dunbar, 7-6, 6-2, at No. 1.
 
Notes
The Tribe improved to 3-1 all-time against Georgetown … W&M won its 44th straight against Richmond and is a perfect 28-0 against the Spiders in Williamsburg … W&M captured the doubles point in both matches on Sunday, giving them the initial point of the match four times this season … Against Georgetown, the teams of senior Ekaterina Stepanova and junior Clara Tanielian and the duo of sophomore Charlotte Madson and freshman Vitoria Okuyama tallied their first dual-match wins as a pair this season and their second overall … Stepanova and senior Olivia Thaler recorded their second win of the year in doubles vs. Richmond and their first in dual-match play … Junior Lauren Goodman and sophomore Natalia Perry teamed for the first time this season against the Spiders and improved to 2-0 over their careers as a tandem … Goodman won both her singles matches, dropping just six total games, to increase her overall record to 14-9 … She is a team best 8-4 in dual-match play, including a 2-0 ledger at No. 4 and a 5-2 mark at No. 5 … Perry won her second in a row, improving to 16-10 overall, 6-4 in duals and 1-1 at No. 2 … Stepanova tallied her third and fourth dual-match singles wins … Tanielian ran her singles mark to 15-10 overall with the two wins on Sunday … She owns a trio of dual-match victories … Sophomore Rosie Cheng won both her matches at No. 1 to extended her singles record to 12-9, including a 5-4 ledger at the top spot … With her win in the match against Georgetown, Thaler ran her team-best singles win total to 17.
 
Up Next
The Tribe continues its season-long five-match homestand against George Washington on Saturday, March 3, and No. 35 Kansas State on Sunday, March 4. The Tribe and Colonials square off at 11 a.m., while W&M-KSU meet at 10 a.m. Both matches will be played at the Millie West Tennis Facility, weather permitting.
 
William & Mary 6, Georgetown 1
Singles
No. 1 - #86 Rosie Cheng (W&M) def. Sara Swift (GU) – 6-1, 6-2
No. 2 – Clara Tanielian (W&M) def. Risa Nakagawa (GU) – 6-1, 6-3
No. 3 – Ekaterina Stepanova (W&M) def. Drew Spinosa (GU) – 6-4, 7-5
No. 4 – Lauren Goodman (W&M) def. Sydney Goodson (GU) – 6-1, 6-1
No. 5 – Olivia Thaler (W&M) def. Daphne de Chatellus (GU) – 3-6, 6-4, 10-7
No. 6 – Casey Marx (GU) def. Cecily Wuenscher (W&M) – 6-1, 3-6, 10-8
Finishing Order: 4,1, 2*, 6, 3, 5
 
Doubles
No. 1 – Stepanova/Tanielian (W&M) def. Swift/Goodson (GU) – 6-2
No. 2 – Marx/Nakagawa (GU) def. Goodman/Wuensher (W&M) – 6-0
No. 3 – Madson/Okuyama (W&M) vs. Spinosa/Lynham (GU) – 7-6 (7)
Finishing Order: 2, 1, 3*
 
William & Mary 6, Richmond 1
Singles
No. 1 – #86 Rosie Cheng (W&M) def. Emily Dunbar (UR) – 7-6, 6-2
No. 2 – Natalia Perry (W&M) def. Dessi Zlateva (UR) – 6-1, 6-1
No. 3 – Clara Tanielian (W&M) def. Lea Owens (UR) – 6-2, 2-6, 10-6
No. 4 – Ekaterina Stepanova (W&M) def. Gabby Rosales (UR) – 6-2, 6-3
No. 5 – Lauren Goodman (W&M) def. Lyndell Giffenig (UR) – 6-1, 6-3
No. 6 – Ana Ramirez (UR) def. Olivia Thaler (W&M) – 6-4, 7-5
Finishing Order: 5, 2, 4*, 2,
 
Doubles
No. 1 – Marshall/Giffenig (UR) def. Cheng/Wuenscher (W&M) – 7-6 (3)
No. 2 – Goodman/Perry (W&M) def. Dunbar/Zlateva (UR) – 6-3
No. 3 – Thaler/Stepanova (W&M) def. Haynes/Owens (UR) – 6-4
Finishing Order: 3, 2*, 1