By Dave Johnson
W&M Athletics
Tennis is an international game, and the William & Mary women's team has tapped that market. Of the 11 players listed on the Tribe's roster, seven come from outside the United States. That includes five of its top six singles players.
Six different countries — Mexico, Japan, Norway, Canada, Spain, and England — are represented. Seven, if you count head coach
Jessica Giuggioli, who was born in Italy.
After winning its last four conference matches, W&M is the No. 2 seed in the CAA Women's Tennis Championship, which begins Friday in Elon, N.C. The Tribe (5-1 vs. Colonial opposition) will open against No. 7 Towson (1-5) at 1 p.m.
The program has been a melting pot, and the recipe is working.
"We pride ourselves in having so many people from different places," said
Mila Saric, who is from the Spanish island of Tenerife. "We have a home in a lot of parts of the world, which is really cool."
That worked out for Saric right after the pandemic hit in 2020. Returning home to Spain, her connecting flight from London was canceled. Fortunately, she was able to bunk at the home of teammate
Elisa Van Meeteren, whose family lives in London.
Being so far from home also has created a bond.
"To some extent, we find it comforting being around each other and having the same feeling of being away from home and adjusting to a new culture," said
Raffaela Alhach, a junior from Mexico City. "It's nice to know you can relate to someone else."
Saric is the reigning CAA Player of the Year and could repeat with strong weekend in Elon. She is 24-5 overall, 14-3 at No. 1 (5-1 in CAA matches). Her only conference loss came in three sets to Charleston's Slade Coetzee, who she could meet again in Sunday's final.
At No. 2, freshman
Hedda Gurholt from Norway is 4-2 in conference matches. Alhach and Van Meeteren have gone back and forth between Nos. 3 and 4 — the former is 9-7 overall, the latter 7-10.
At Nos. 5 and 6,
Ine Stange of Norway is a combined 9-7.
Emma Fernald of Saint Petersburg, Fla., the lone American among the top six, is 12-5 at Nos. 4 through 6.
After losing to Charleston 4-3 in a match that came down to the final set at No. 1 singles, the Tribe has won consecutive Colonial matches against Drexel, Delaware, Towson and Elon.
"Everyone has put in the work, and we've had a good overall season," Saric said. "We've had a lot of close matches with some very good teams. We've shown toughness and competed well. We've been getting better overall throughout the season."
A big plus has been the rapid maturity of freshmen Fernald, Gurholt and Stange.
"Since day one, they have been invested in the team and given effort every single day in practice," Alhach said. "They've proven that with how well they've played throughout the season. We're really proud to have them as our teammates and friends."
As the No. 3 seed last spring, William & Mary lost 4-3 in the final to top-seeded James Madison. It was the second consecutive tournament in which the Tribe finished as runner-up.
W&M has won 26 Colonial championships since the inaugural event in 1985. The current gap of two years (not counting the COVID season of 2020) without a title hasn't happened since 2009-10.
"We're just really excited to play this weekend," Alhach said. "We're hoping and expecting the best results from each one of us. We're going to give it our all."
"I'm really positive about it," Saric added. "We're very hungry for the trophy."
