At 28 matches, the second-longest conference winning streak in William and Mary women’s tennis history has ended.
Saturday, April 19, Tribe women’s tennis (13-5, 4-1 CAA) suffered its third straight defeat, falling to Elon (17-5, 3-0 CAA) 4-3 at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center in Elon, N.C. It marked the Tribe’s first Coastal Athletic Association dual match loss since March 19, 2022, when it fell to Charleston, and its first loss to Elon since April 3, 2021.
With the victory, the Phoenix clinched the No. 1 seed in the CAA Championship, scheduled for April 25 to April 27 at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center. William and Mary will be the No. 2 seed for the second consecutive season.
The Tribe opened the afternoon with momentum. The duo of senior Alessandra Anghel and sophomore Francesca Davis — one of the CAA’s most prolific doubles teams — overwhelmed Elon freshman Lisa Kranec and junior Helen Sarikulaya by a score of 6-2. Anghel and Davis’ record improved to a team-best 13-2 on the dual season as the pair made up for a loss they suffered against Charlotte (21-5, 4-1 AAC) April 12.
Despite the hosts’ early setback, it did not take long for them to claw back into the game. Elon sophomores Simone Bergeron and Mariana Reding scratched out a hotly-contested victory over Tribe seniors Hedda Gurholt and Ine Stange 6-4 on court No. 1. The Phoenix’s energetic nature, which William and Mary head coach Jessica Giuggioli made note of in the leadup to the match, was on full display, as Bergeron’s shouts echoed off the concrete after every point.
The Phoenix secured the doubles point after Tribe freshman Mira Kernagis and senior Emma Fernald fell to Elon freshman Heidi Bulger and senior Miray Konar 6-4 on court No. 3. After winning all of its doubles points in March, William and Mary has now lost its last three doubles points, a streak that has coincided with its three-match losing streak. The Tribe has failed to capture the doubles point in all five of its match defeats on the year.
The Tribe fared better at the beginning of the singles portion of the contest, as Kernagis made up for her doubles loss by taking down Kranec 6-4, 6-4 in straight sets on court No. 6. On court No. 1, Gurholt steamrolled Bergeron, beating her 6-3, 6-2 and giving William and Mary its first lead of the evening. Gurholt’s victory improved her singles record to 19-13 on the year and 5-0 in CAA play.
However, the Tribe went just 3-3 overall in its opening sets, with Davis losing a tiebreaker to Elon junior Madison Cordisco on court No. 5, Stange dropping a lopsided decision to Bulger on court No. 4 and William and Mary junior Sia Chaudry falling victim to a similar fate against Sarikulaya on court No. 3.
Stange and Davis were not able to recover. Both players lost their matches in straight sets, putting Elon up 3-2, one point away from winning. The deciding court would be No. 2, where Reding recovered from a slow start to hand Anghel only her fifth singles loss of the season, a result that clinched the victory for the Phoenix.
William and Mary will now begin to prepare for the weekend’s CAA Championship, a tournament it has won for three consecutive years. The Tribe is the most dominant program in the history of the event: it boasts 29 conference titles, and in the 30 years the CAA Championship has been held in its current format, only three times has William and Mary failed to make the championship match. The Green and Gold has won 72 out of the 81 matches it has played in the tournament.
As the No. 2 seed, the Tribe automatically advances to the tournament’s semifinals, where it will take on the winner of the match between No. 3 seed Delaware (17-7, 4-0 CAA) and No. 6 seed Campbell (8-8, 3-2 CAA) Saturday, April 26.
If the Green and Gold brings home its fourth straight CAA trophy, it will clinch a berth to the National Collegiate Athletic Association Women’s Tennis Championship, which will be held May 15 to May 18 at the Hurd Tennis Center in Waco, Texas.
