By Dave Johnson
W&M Athletics
A year ago, with the home-court advantage, William & Mary ran into some drama. This time, on a neutral surface 200 miles away, the Tribe made things look almost routine.
Winning 12 of 13 possible team points, W&M claimed its third consecutive CAA women's tennis championship last weekend in Elon, N.C. The Tribe defeated Campbell 4-1 in Friday's quarterfinals, UNCW 4-0 in Saturday's semifinals, and Delaware 4-0 in Sunday's championship.
No dicey moments like last spring, when W&M trailed Elon 3-1 at the Mackesy Tennis Center and was one loss away from elimination. This time, after dropping the doubles point to Campbell, the Tribe won 12 consecutive points in the tournament.
"Maybe it looked easy, but I'm sure for the girls, even those who had been there before, there were some nerves and all that," said
Jessica Giuggioli, who has led W&M to CAA championships in each of her three seasons. "But they kept everything under control and executed everything to the plan.
"Obviously, we were playing away versus last year being at home, and I think that's different. But we also had a great crowd this year. Ultimately, it came down to execution. In the final, we executed everything we needed to do."
Because it did, the Tribe (18-5) is back in the NCAA tournament and will open against Wisconsin (18-6) Friday at 3 p.m. in Chapel Hill, N.C. The winner will advance to Sunday's second round against either North Carolina, the tournament's No. 4 seed, or Navy.
Junior No. 1
Hedda Gurholt led the Tribe by winning all three of her weekend matches. That included a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Delaware's Slade Coetzee, who defeated Gurholt 6-1, 6-0 three weeks earlier in Newark, Del. Gurholt heads into the NCAAs with a dual record of 19-2 and a six-match winning streak.
No. 2
Yu Chen won against Campbell and Delaware in straight sets and was up a break in the third set vs. UNCW when the Tribe's win was clinched.
No. 3
Mila Mejic secured W&M's championship point by defeating Delaware's Maryia Hrynashka 6-3, 7-6 (2). She also teamed with
Francesca Davis for a 6-4 win that clinched the doubles point. Davis,
Alessandra Anghel and
Ine Stange also provided key wins in singles and doubles during the tournament.
"To me, one of the best things about this tournament is that everybody showed up at every single position," Giuggioli said. "That says a lot about how they handle their emotions and just being in the championship again.
"It was great. You never get used to winning it, so it's great to be able to do it again."
The win over the Blue Hens sealed a third consecutive conference title, but it also avenged what originally was a 4-3 loss at Delaware on April 7. A week later, the ITA National Ranking Committee declared it a no contest because the Blue Hens had violated a lineup rule.
"We didn't travel 4½ hours earlier in the season for a no contest," Giuggioli said, "so it was definitely great to have another opportunity to play them and make sure we would have a result."
Since the inaugural CAA women's championship in 1985, William & Mary has won 29 of the 39 events. That included 15 of the first 16 and seven of the last nine.
Since Giuggioli's first season in 2022, the Tribe has gone 25-1 (counting tournament matches) against CAA opponents. That's pure dominance, but Giuggioli doesn't see her team feeling any pressure.
"I feel the experience takes care of that," she said. "I think it makes it challenging sometimes that teams we play maybe feel like they won't have that much to lose. So they play more relaxed against us.
"That maybe has an impact in that sense. But I think having the experience and having done it before really pays off."
Wisconsin, ranked No. 33 nationally, is an at-large pick after losing to No. 2 Michigan 4-0 in the Big Ten semifinals. The Badgers' No. 1 player is sophomore Maria Sholokhova, who is 18-4 in dual matches.
This will be the third consecutive year William & Mary was sent to an ACC site. The Tribe played at Duke in 2023 and N.C. State in '22.
