William and Mary (2-0) has begun the 2020 season with consecutive wins. The team was back in action Sunday, Jan. 26, one day after picking up a season-opening victory at the McCormack-Naglesen Tennis Center. The opponent was Winthrop (0-2), the defending champions of the Big South conference. After picking up the doubles point not long after the 9 a.m. start time, the Tribe won four singles matches en route to a 5-2 triumph.
The two teams split the first two doubles matches, rendering a win in the third critical. The Tribe pairing of senior Charlotte Madson and freshman Elisa Van Meeteren proved with their backs against the wall that upper- and lower-classmen can get the job done, winning the final two games to break a 4-4 tie to claim the match’s first point for the Tribe, besting Jamie Edwards and Samantha Nanere 6-4.
Sophomore Mila Saric continued her dominant start to the season, winning her singles match over Rafaela Santos in straight sets with scores of 6-1 and 6-3 to put the Tribe up 2-0. Van Meeteren then helped add another point to the Tribe’s total by defeating Jamie Edwards, also in straight sets, 6-3 and 6-2.
Madson and Nanere would meet again in a singles match. Madson fell into 5-2 deficit early in the first set but came roaring back to take the first set 7-5. She would then eek out another 7-5 advantage to beat Nanere in the second set.
Junior Vitoria Okuyama spent the morning engaged in a back-and-forth battle with Alexandra Ferreira da Silva. Okuyama seized the first set 6-0 and looked poised to cruise to a victory. However, her opponent responded in the second set with a 6-2 equalizer. With the match point on the line, the final set was tied 3-3. But, Okuyama would leave no doubt that this match was the Tribe’s for the taking as she ran away with a 6-4 win in the final set. Her heroics would give the Tribe its fifth point to seal the victory over the Eagles.
The Eagles would pick up closely contested points against seniors Natalia Perry and Rosie Cheng, but the final score of 5-2 still convincingly favored the Tribe.
The Tribe will look to build upon its early momentum with upcoming home matches against Dartmouth and Wake Forest early next week.