Friday, coming off of a 4-3 loss against Kansas State, William and Mary hosted Yale at the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center. The Tribe (9-6) outplayed the Bulldogs (5-8) in a 6-1 victory late into the evening.
The College clinched the doubles point with wins in the bottom two positions. Sophomore Rosie Cheng and senior Olivia Thaler claimed the first victory of the night at the No. 3 spot in a 6-3 contest.
Also claiming a win in a 6-3 contest was sophomore Natalia Perry and junior Lauren Goodman at the No. 2 position.
Despite a hard-fought battle at the No. 1 spot, freshman Victoria Okuyama and junior Clara Tanielian dropped a matchup against the Bulldogs’ Samantha Martinelli and Elizabeth Zordani in a 6-4 decision.
Head Coach Tyler Thompson was pleased with the outcome of the match because of the time the team has spent preparing.
“We’ve been spending a lot of time on our doubles for quite some time because it has been an Achilles’ heel of ours, so it was nice to be successful in doubles tonight and I thought we played pretty well,” said Thompson.
“We’ve been spending a lot of time on our doubles for quite some time because it has been an Achilles’ heel of ours, so it was nice to be successful in doubles tonight and I thought we played pretty well,” said Thompson.
As the College continued to plow through sets against the Bulldogs, it found singles success in all but the No. 1 spot.
Coming off a win during doubles, Thaler made quick work of opponent senior Sunday Swett at the No. 6 position, 6-2, 6-0.
Senior Ekaterina Stepanova then claimed a victory at the No. 5 position with a 6-1, 6-2 win.
“It was really nice to see her get a victory tonight,” Thompson said of Stepanova’s performance. “I didn’t see her match but according to Jesse, our associate head coach, she played really well and she works so hard so it’s nice to see her get a win.”
Cheng dropped two consecutive sets at the No. 1 spot to Martinelli, 6-2, 6-1.
At the No. 4 position, junior Lauren Goodman decisively claimed a victory, 6-2, 6-1.
Perry claimed the victory at the No. 2 position in a third set tie breaker after splitting the first two sets with Yale’s Valerie Shklover.
Rounding out the night, Tanielian finished with a Tribe victory at the No. 3 spot in a third set.
Looking ahead, the Tribe will travel to Houston, Texas Friday as it looks to upset Rice University.
