WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The William & Mary women's tennis team treks to Athens, Ga., to take part in the 2019 ITA Kick-Off Weekend, Jan. 25-26. The Tribe faces Big 12 foe Kansas State in the opening round of the regional at the Lindsey Hopkins Indoor Courts on Friday, Jan. 25, at 11 a.m. Admission to the event is free.
 
The host and No. 5-ranked Georgia meets South Florida in the other match-up on Friday. The consolation (10 a.m.) and finals (2 p.m.) of the regional are set for Saturday, Jan. 26, with the winner advancing to the ITA National Indoor Championship, Feb. 8-11, at the Nordstrom Tennis Center and Seattle Tennis Club in Washington.
 
On the ITA Kick-Off Weekend
- The Tribe takes part in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend for the ninth time in the 11-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.
- W&M travels to Athens, Ga., for the event for the second time. In 2010, W&M downed Georgia State, 5-1, before falling to the host Bulldogs, 4-2.
- Host sites for Kick-Off Weekend were determined using the final 2018 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 Indoor Championship, Feb. 8-11, at the Nordstrom Tennis Center and Seattle Tennis Club in Washington. The Tribe has competed in the National Team Indoor Championship on 12 occasions in its history.
 
Scouting the Tribe
- W&M enters the ITA Kick-Off Weekend at 1-1 on the year following a narrow 4-3 setback to defending Big South Champion Winthrop on Jan. 20. The Tribe opened the year with a 6-1 victory over Atlantic-10 foe Richmond on Jan. 15.
- Against the Eagles, the Green and Gold won three-straight singles matches after falling behind 2-0. Senior Lauren Goodman (No. 3), junior Charlotte Madson (No. 5) and freshman Mila Saric (No. 6) posted singles victories to give W&M a 3-2 lead. Winthrop rallied with three-set wins at No. 1 and No. 4 to clinch the victory.
- Madson and Saric are both 2-0 in singles action for the Tribe at No. 5 and No. 6, respectively.
- In doubles, junior Natalia Perry and Saric are a perfect 2-0 at the No. 3 post.
- Perry leads the Tribe with seven singles wins on the year, while Saric owns six. Both Goodman and fellow senior Clara Tanielian have won five singes matchs, including 1-0 marks in dual-match play.
- W&M's top four players (junior Rosie Cheng, Perry, Tanielian and Goodman) have all earned All-CAA honors throughout their careers. Cheng was the CAA Player of the Year and ITA Atlantic Region Player to Watch in 2018. She and Perry earned All-CAA First Team honors in 2018, while Tanielian was a second team singles pick. Goodman is a three-time All-CAA selection between singles and doubles during her Tribe career.
- Last season, the Tribe was ranked No. 2 in the ITA Atlantic Region to cap the season, which was its highest regional ranking since 2008.  The Green and Gold was ranked in the national top 50 to end the year for the third time in the last four seasons coming in at No. 45 in 2018.
- W&M has won 26 of the 34 all-time CAA Championships, including each of the last four. Every player on the Tribe roster has won the league title during each of their seasons on campus.
- The Tribe is under new leadership in 2019 as former W&M assistant Toni Bickford was named the program's 10th head coach on Sept. 24. Bickford, a 16-year coaching veteran, was the associate head coach at Old Dominion last season, earning her second career ITA Atlantic Region Assistant Coach of the Year award. As an assistant, he helped teams to 216 wins, including 46 against nationally-ranked competition. She was the Tribe's assistant from 2008-11, helping W&M to the 2011 CAA Championship.
 
Scouting Kansas State
- The Wildcats opened the 2019 season with a 7-0 win over South Dakota on Jan. 19.
- Kansas State finished last season ranked No. 39 nationally and No. 6 in the ITA Central Region. K-State compiled a 15-11 record and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
- Jordan Smith took over the helm of the Wildcat program in July after serving as the program's assistant for the previous four seasons.
- A trio of Wildcat players return after being ranked in the ITA Central Region last season. Margot Decker was ranked No. 15 in the region followed by No. 17 Maria Linares and No. 19 Rosanna Maffei.
- Linares was the Big 12 Freshman of the Year and the ITA Central Region Rookie of the Year last season. She is 5-3 on the year and won at the No. 1 spot against South Dakota.
- Both Linares and Decker garnered All-Big 12 Second Team honors last season.
- Anna Turco is a team-best 7-3 in singles action, including a win at No. 3 vs. South Dakota. She teamed with Decker to win at No. 1 doubles in the dual-match win as well.
 
Series History: W&M vs. Kansas State
- The Wildcats won both meetings with the Tribe by narrow 4-3 margins.
- The teams met in Cambridge, Mass., during the 2013 season and in Williamsburg last season.
- Last season, the Wildcats rallied behind three-set wins at No. 2 and No. 4 singles to top W&M, 4-3. Rosie Cheng (No. 1), Clara Tanielian (No. 3) and Lauren Goodman (No. 5) posted singles wins for the Tribe.
 
Scouting #5 Georgia
- Georgia is ranked No. 5 in the Oracle/ITA National Rankings on Jan. 23. The Bulldogs open the dual-match season with the ITA Kick-Off Weekend.
- Last season, UGA finished the year ranked No. 7 nationally after advancing to the NCAA Quarterfinals. The Bulldogs ended the year at 18-7 overall and 10-3 in SEC play.
- Six Georgia players were ranked in the Oracle/ITA Singles Rankings released in November. Katarina Jokic headlined the group as the top-ranked player in the country followed by No. 14 Marta Gonzalez, No. 54 Vivian Wolff, No. 78 Lourdes Carle, No. 79 Meg Kowalski and No. 107 Eleni Christofi.
- Jokic completed the fall season at 10-1 with nine wins over nationally-ranked opponents. She ended the fall by winning the Oracle/ITA National Fall Singles Championship.
- Gonzalez leads the Bulldogs with a 14-3 singles record during the fall, including seven nationally-ranked wins. In doubles, she teamed with Morgan Coppoc to advance to the Southeast Region semifinals.
 
Series History: W&M vs. Georgia
- The Bulldogs lead the all-time series with the Tribe at 9-2, including a 7-1 mark in Athens, Ga.
- The teams have not met since the ITA Kick-Off Weekend in 2010 when Georgia topped the Tribe 4-2 in Athens.
- Georgia has been ranked among the top five in country in eight of the last nine meetings.
- The Tribe's last win in the series during the 1997 NCAA Tournament when W&M upended No. 5 Georgia, 5-0. The Tribe also topped the then-No. 1 Bulldogs, 5-4, in Athens during the 1995 season.
 
Scouting South Florida
- The Bulls enter the weekend at 1-2 on the year. After dropping a 4-3 decision to FAU to open the year, USF posted a 5-2 victory over Florida Gulf Coast. Most recently, they dropped a 6-1 decision at home to LSU.
- Last season, USF finished the year ranked No. 62 nationally and No. 8 in Southeast Region. The Bulls posted an 11-11 overall record, including a 4-2 ledger in the American Athletic Conference.
- Ana Roman Dominguez is a perfect 3-0 at No. 1 singles for USF, including a pair of nationally-ranked wins. She topped No. 88 Natalia Boltinskaya of FAU in the season opener, before downing LSU's No. 13-ranked Eden Richardson in the team's last match.
- Vanja Klaric (No. 4) and Amelie Boy (No. 6) are both 2-1 in dual-match singles action for the Bulls.
- In doubles, Janvhi Clark and Laura Pellicer Perello hold down the No. 1 position and are 1-2 on the year.
 
Series History: W&M vs. South Florida
- The Tribe is 2-0 all-time against South Florida.
- W&M downed No. 75 South Florida, 4-3, in Tampa in 2004, before picking up a 5-2 win over the No. 50-ranked Bulls in Williamsburg a season later.