Williamsburg, Va. - For the second straight season, the reigning CAA Champion William and Mary women's tennis team will open the dual-match season on the road at No. 3 Duke The Friday, Jan. 20, match is slated for 5 p.m. at the Sheffield Tennis Center.
The Green and Gold, which finished last season at 16-9, was ranked No. 43 nationally in the ITA rankings released on Jan. 3. The College has four singles players and a pair of doubles teams ranked in ITA Atlantic Region standings. Sophomore Kayla Rizzolo, who topped the Tribe with a 7-3 fall singles mark, led the way for W&M in the regional rankings at No. 9 followed by sophomore Jeltje Loomans at No. 14, junior Marlen Mesgarzadeh at No. 16 and sophomore Maria Belaya at No. 17. Loomans and Belaya, who finished the fall at 7-3, were ranked No. 3 in the ITA Atlantic Region, while junior Anik Cepeda and Mesgarzadeh gave the College two top-10 doubles teams in the region coming in at the No. 10 spot. Last season, W&M won its 21st CAA Championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the 18th time in school history.
Duke finished last season at 25-5, falling in the NCAA Quarterfinal to UCLA, 4-2. The Blue Devils were ranked No. 3 in the preseason ITA rankings and were well represented in the individual rankings with six singles players and two doubles teams. Freshman Beatrice Capra leads the way at No. 7 nationally in singles followed by freshman Monica Turewicz at No. 35, sophomore Hanna Mar at No. 38, junior Mary Clayton at No. 66, freshman Annie Mulholland at No. 97 and sophomore Rachel Kahan at No. 118. Capra and freshman Ester Goldfeld are ranked No. 7 in the national doubles rankings, while Mulholland and Mar are No. 46. Last season, Duke downed the Tribe, 7-0, in Durham. Cepeda and sophomore Hope Johnson highlighted the Tribe effort against the Blue Devils with a victory at the No. 1 doubles positions over the No. 4-ranked team in the country.
Following the matchup with Duke, the Tribe will take part in the ITA Kickoff Weekend at Georgia Tech, Jan. 28-29. W&M will face No. 28 South Carolina on Saturday, Jan. 28, at 10 a.m., before battling either No. 13 Georgia Tech or No. 58 Georgia State on Sunday, Jan. 29. The Tribe will travel to Minneapolis, Minn., to face the Golden Gophers on Friday, Feb. 3, at 5 p.m., before facing No. 27 Washington on Saturday, Feb. 4, at 1 p.m. The College's first home match of the 2012 dual-match season will be Sunday, Feb. 19, against No. 40 Maryland at 1 p.m.
