WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The No. 45-ranked William & Mary women's tennis team posted its highest ranked win since 2013, upsetting No. 19 Wake Forest, 4-3, on Monday afternoon at the Millie West Tennis Facility. The Green and Gold (11-8), which won its second match over a top-40 foe in the last 10 days, claimed the doubles point behind a nationally-ranked win at No. 1 from junior Clara Tanielian and freshman Vitoria Okuyama, before seniors Ekaterina Stepanova and Olivia Thaler and sophomore Natalia Perry tallied singles triumph to cement the win.
 
After Wake Forest (16-8) opened doubles with a win at No. 2, Tanielian and Okuyama upset the No. 31-ranked Chandler Carter and Emma Davis, 6-2, at the top spot to pull W&M even. With the match tied at two, the Tribe pair broke the Demon Deacon duo on the way to winning the final four games to pick up the match. The initial point of the contest came down to a tiebreaker at No. 3 doubles. Thaler and sophomore Rosie Cheng jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the breaker and pulled away, downing Courtney Meredith and Joanna Zalewski, 7-6 (3) to give W&M a 1-0 lead.
 
Stepanova and Thaler quickly extended the Tribe's margin to 3-0 with victories at No. 5 and No. 6, respectively. Stepanova won matching 6-3 sets to down Zalewski and improve to 3-1 on line five. After sweeping Courtney Meredith in the opening set, 6-0, Thaler went to a tiebreaker in the second. The Tribe senior raced out to a 5-1 lead, before Meredith rallied to tie it at five. Not to be outdone, Thaler won the final two points of the break to post her 21st win of the year.
 
Perry capped the Tribe victory with a triumph at No. 3. The Tribe sophomore picked up her 20th win of the season and clinched her third 4-3 match of the year with a 7-5, 6-3 triumph over Chandler Carter. The Wake Forest sophomore entered the match on a five-match win streak, including a win over No. 20-ranked Alle Sanford of North Carolina.
 
Notes
The Tribe pic ked up its second top-20 victory under head coach Tyler Thomson … W&M also knocked off then-No. 19 Mississippi, 4-3, in 2013 … W&M improved to 2-2 against the ACC this season with its other victory coming against No. 50 Boston College … The Green and Gold tallied its 20th win over Power Conference opponent and its seventh against the ACC under head coach Tyler Thomson … It marked the Tribe's 19th nationally-ranked win under Thomson and second this season …Junior Clara Tanielian and freshman Vitoria Okuyama picked up their first nationally-ranked doubles win … It marked their fourth-straight match against a ranked foe … Tanielian and Okuyama improved to 7-5 overall with their fourth dual-match win and first at the top spot … Senior Olivia Thaler and sophomore Rosie Cheng won their second doubles match as a pair … Senior Ekaterina Stepanova posted her seventh singles win of the year and improved to 3-1 at No. 5 … Thaler tallied win No. 21 on the year with her 10th dual-match win and upped her ledger to 8-4 at No. 6 … Sophomore Natalia Perry won her 20th match of the season and pushed her dual-match record to 10-7 … It was Perry's third clincher of the season, all in 4-3 matches, and second against ACC foe as she cemented W&M's win over Boston College in February  
 
Up Next
The Tribe hosts a CAA doubleheader on Saturday, April 7, at the Millie West Tennis Facility, weather permitting. The Green and Gold hosts James Madison at 11 a.m., before welcoming Towson at 4 p.m.
 
#45 William & Mary 4, #19 Wake Forest 3
Singles
No. 1 - #32 Emma Davis (WF) def. #111 Rosie Cheng (W&M) – 6-4, 7-5
No. 2 - #94 Eliza Omirou (WF) def. Clara Tanielian (W&M) – 6-4, 7-6 (5)
No. 3 – Natalia Perry (W&M) def. Chandler Carter (WF) – 7-5, 6-3
No. 4 – M.C. Meredith (WF) def. Lauren Goodman (W&M) – 5-7, 6-3, 10-8
No. 5 – Ekaterina Stepanova (W&M) def. Joanna Zalewski (WF) – 6-3, 6-3
No. 6 – Olivia Thaler (W&M) def. Courtney Meredith (WF) – 6-0, 7-6 (5)
Finishing Order: 5, 6, 3*, 1, 4, 2
 
Doubles
No. 1 – Tanielian/Okuyama (W&M) def. #31 Carter/Davis (WF) – 6-2
No. 2 – Omirou/M.C. Meredith (WF) def. Goodman/Perry (W&M) – 6-1
No. 3 – Cheng/Thaler (W&M) def. C. Meredith/Zalewski (WF) – 7-6 (3)
Finishing Order: 2, 1, 3*