By Dave Johnson
W&M Athletics
 
Growing up in Oslo, the capital and largest city in Norway, Hedda Gurholt and Ine Stange were well aware of each other. The tennis community was small and tight, and they were the same age. Which often meant they were on opposite sides of the net.
 
"I checked a year ago and we had played each other something like 40 times in singles," Stange said. "So it's been a lot."
 
Who has the edge?
 
"I think it's gone back and forth," Gurholt said.
 
"Hedda has the most wins," Stange interjected.
 
"For now," Gurholt added.
 
Although singles rivals, Gurholt and Stange (pronounced STAHN-ya) became doubles partners and best friends. Two summers ago, they crossed the Atlantic together to enroll at William & Mary and play on the women's tennis team.
 
Being 4,000 miles and five time zones from home isn't easy, but they have each other. They also have their teammates, five of whom came from outside the United States, and head coach Jessica Giuggioli, who is from Italy.
 
Heading into Sunday's home match against Delaware, Gurholt is 8-3 at No. 1 singles after Wednesday's straight-sets win against Pacific. Stange is 4-1 at No. 5, 1-0 at No. 6, and 7-0 in doubles with partner Sofiya Kuzina. The pair is ranked No. 50 in the country.
 
"From a tennis perspective, they've contributed to the lineup from day one," Giuggioli said. "From a personality perspective, they also bring a lot to the team.
 
"They have very different personalities, but they work hard and they've definitely been great contributors."
 
Gurholt and Stange aren't the only Norwegians in William & Mary's tennis program.
 
Albert Hansen, also from Oslo, is one of two freshman on the men's team. Hansen and Stange first met as 7-year-olds at the Ullern Tennis Club. He and Gurholt became acquainted on the tournament circuit.
 
There is no high school or college tennis in Norway, so it's all about tournament play. The team concept was unfamiliar to Gurholt and Stange.
 
"Coming here, it's changed completely how I view tennis as a sport and how important having a team around you is," Gurholt said. "We had both been pretty much by ourselves in tennis.
 
"Sometimes you travel alone or maybe with one other person and you kind of feel like tennis is just about yourself. I feel like we both appreciate having a team around you."
 
Stange enjoys having the camaraderie.
 
"It's fun having a team to always back you up, which you never get in juniors," she said. "I really enjoy it."
 
What team tennis is all about was driven home when William & Mary won the CAA championship last spring. It was the Gurholt/Stange tandem that won the deciding match for the all-important doubles point, which set up the Tribe's 4-1 victory over host Elon.
 
It was a big moment for the two. Another came two years earlier when they won the doubles championship of the Norwegian Open Grand Prix. Both 18 at the time, they defeated two college players — Alexandra Borg (Rollins College) and Lillian Gabrielsen (Mississippi) — in the final.
 
"Playing two older girls, it was interesting to see how they changed their game since they had been in college for so long," Stange said. "Like using the net a lot and being super loud — we're taught that in college. You're not taught that much in juniors."
 
Gurholt and Stange also have memorable moments against each other.
 
"We played, I think it was, two years ago in the (Norwegian U19) national championship," Gurholt said. "I won the final in three sets, and it was the first time I won the national championship. For me, that was special."
 
Stange also remembers a good moment.
 
"When I won my first ITF, I beat Hedda in the semifinals," she said. "That was a good one."
 
Regardless of who won or loss, the friendship was never affected.
 
"It's always been professional when we play," Gurholt said. "We've always been good friends before and after a match."
 
Like many players from their country, Gurholt and Stange dreamed of playing college tennis in the United States. Nothing was set in stone that they would attend the same university, only an agreement that it would be nice if things worked out that way.
 
Things did. They are teammates and roommates at the nation's second-oldest university. And they are both majoring in finance.
 
"We were talking to different schools, and William & Mary happened to be interested in the both of us," Stange said. "It wasn't planned, but we both ended up wanting to come here the most."
 
Each had been to the U.S. once before, but living here is an adjustment.
"We're not in a big city, so it doesn't feel like everything is so big," Gurholt said. "But Norway has 5 million people, and that's a very small part of the U.S. population (332 million).
 
"It was a big difference coming here. The culture, the people, so you kind of have to adjust to it. But we like it a lot."