ELON, N.C.  – The 25-time league champion William & Mary women's tennis team rolled in the quarterfinals of the 2018 Colonial Athletic Association Championship, blanking No. 8 seed Towson, 4-0, on Friday morning at the Burlington Tennis Center. The Tribe (15-9) captured the doubles point with wins at the No. 2 and No. 3 spots, before senior Olivia Thaler and sophomores Rosie Cheng and Natalia Perry posted singles wins.
 
After Towson (12-12) took the early lead in doubles with a win at the top position, Thaler and Cheng evened it with a 6-4 win over Renate van Oorschodt and A.J. Gomer at No. 2. Junior Clara Tanielian and sophomore Charlotte Madson pulled out the match's initial point for the Green and Gold, winning the final three games on the way to a 7-5 victory over Barbora Vasilkova and Lucy Gloninger at No. 3.
 
Thaler quickly extended the Green and Gold cushion to 2-0 with a convincing win at No. 6. The Tribe senior dropped just two first-set games in posting her team-leading 25th singles win of the year, 6-2, 6-0, over Lucy Gloninger.
 
The sophomore tandem of Perry and Cheng put the finishing touches on the Tribe's quarterfinal victory with strong performances at the top two singles spots. Perry dropped just one game in ousting A.J. Gomer, 6-0, 6-1, at No. 2 for her 23rd win of the year. Cheng dropped Nicole Shakhnazarova, 6-2, 6-1, for the clincher at No. 1 to improve to 8-0 all-time in singles action against CAA opponents.
 
Notes
The Tribe advanced to the CAA Semifinals for the 23rd time in the 24 years since the league went to the head-to-head team tournament format … The Green and Gold won its 15th dual-match for the 21st time in the last 28 years, including four times under head coach Tyler Thomson … The Tribe has won 15 or more dual matches on 22 occasions in program history … W&M improved to 5-0 all-time against Towson, including a 4-0 in the CAA Tournament, and is 21-1 all-time in the CAA Quarterfinals … The Tribe captured the doubles point for the fifth time in the last six matches … Senior Olivia Thaler and sophomore Rosie Cheng won their fourth match at the No. 2 spot, while sophomore Charlotte Madson and junior Clara Tanielian won their first at No. 3 … The doubles win was the 50th of Thaler's career … Thaler notched her team-leading 25th singles win, improving her team-best dual-match mark to 15-9, including an 11-5 ledger at No. 6 … Sophomore Natalia Perry improved to 23-15 overall, 13-9 in duals and 6-4 at No. 2 with her singles victory … Cheng notched her 17th singles win of the year and 10th at the top spot … She is now 8-0 in her career against CAA opponents.
 
Up Next
The top-seeded Tribe faces No. 4 seed Elon in the CAA Semifinals at 10 a.m. on Saturday, April 21. The Phoenix advanced with a 4-0 win over Drexel on Friday. W&M is 2-0 all-time against Elon, and Saturday will be the first meeting between the teams in the CAA Championship. The 2018 CAA Championships are being hosted by Elon University at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center in North Carolina.

#1 William & Mary 4, #8 Towson 0
Singles
No. 1 – Rosie Cheng (W&M) def. Nicole Shakhnazarova (Towson) – 6-2, 6-1
No. 2 – Natalia Perry (W&M) def. A.J. Gomer (Towson) – 6-0, 6-1
No. 3 – Clara Tanielian (W&M) vs. Lucy Williams (Towson) – DNF, 1-6, 3-2
No. 4 – Lauren Goodman (W&M) vs. Yevgeniya Shusterman (Towson) – DNF, 6-2, 2-1
No. 5 – Ekaterina Stepanova (W&M) vs. Renate van Oorschodt (Towson) – DNF, 6-1, 5-2
No. 6 – Olivia Thaler (W&M) def. Lucy Gloninger (Towson) – 6-2, 6-0
Finishing Order: 6, 2, 1*
 
Doubles
No. 1 – Williams/Shusterman (Towson) def. Goodman/Perry (W&M) – 6-0
No. 2 – Cheng/Thaler (W&M) def. van Oorschodt/Gomer (Towson) – 6-4
No. 3 – Madson/Tanielian (W&M) def. Gloninger/Vasilkova (Towson) – 7-5
Finishing Order: 1, 2, 3*