College Tennis News - W&M Travels to Minnesota for a Pair of Matches

Williamsburg, Va. - The William and Mary women's tennis team will continue its five-match season-opening road trip when it plays a pair of matches at the Baseline Tennis Center in Minneapolis, Minn., over the weekend. The Green and Gold will face Minnesota at 5 p.m. CT on Friday, Feb. 3, before squaring off with No. 28-ranked Washington at 1 p.m CT on Saturday, Feb. 4. Live video and scoring will be available for W&M's match on Friday against Minnesota at GopherSports.com.

The Tribe, which was ranked No. 50 nationally in the latest ITA rankings on Feb. 2, dropped a pair of tough matches to nationally-ranked foes as part of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend in Atlanta, Ga. The College fell to No. 27 South Carolina, 4-1, in a match that came down to a quartet of three-set affairs. Highlighting the W&M effort against the Gamecocks was junior Marlen Mesgarzadeh, who knocked off the highest-ranked opponent of her career, downing No. 33-ranked Jaklin Alawi in straight sets at the No. 2 position. W&M wrapped up the weekend with a tight 4-2 setback to CAA foe and No. 54-ranked Georgia State. The Tribe claimed the doubles point with wins from the sophomore team of Jeltje Loomans and Maria Belaya at No. 1 and the duo of junior Anik Cepeda and sophomore Hope Johnson at No. 2. Belaya also tallied a straight-set win in singles at the No. 3 slot, but the Panthers won four singles matches on the way to the team victory.

Minnesota enters the match-up with the Tribe at a perfect 2-0 on the season, following 7-0 home wins over Iowa State ad Creighton on Jan. 27 and Jan. 28, respectively. Last season, the Golden Gophers went 8-16 before falling in the Big Ten Quarterfinals. Tyler Thomson, who spent four years as an assistant coach at William and Mary, is in his 11th season at the helm of the Gopher program. The Tribe notched a 5-2 victory over Minnesota in Williamsburg last season and holds a 2-0 advantage in the all-time series.

Washington is ranked No. 28 nationally and holds a 1-1 record after splitting its matches at the season-opening ITA Kick-Off Weekend. The Huskies downed No. 32-ranked San Diego, 5-2, before falling to No. 7 California, 5-2. Jill Hultquist is in her fifth season as the UW head coach and last season, led the Huskies to a 13-11 overall mark, before falling in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Washington boasts the No. 10-ranked singles player in the country in the form of senior Denise Dy, who is a three-time All-American. The Saturday match will mark the first meeting between the Tribe and Huskies.

Following the matches in Minnesota, the Green and Gold will have a two-week break, before returning to action with its home opener against No. 40-ranked Maryland on Sunday, Feb. 19. The match carries a 1 p.m. start time at the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center.