CHARLESTON, S.C. -- The College of Charleston women's tennis team (12-5, 2-0) rallied from a 2-0 deficit to come back and defeat William & Mary (5-7, 1-1) on Saturday at the CofC Tennis Center. The victory gives the Cougars their eighth straight win and improves CofC to 2-0 in CAA play.

The eight consecutive wins are the most for the program since the 2015 squad ended the season with eight victories in a row.

Charleston is 11-1 on its home court this season. 

Coach Anastopoulo on the match
"What a great college tennis match in front of our largest crowd of the year," head coach Angelo Anastopoulo said. "A special thank you to the Credit One ball crew for their excellent work today. Big shout out to Slade Coetzee for coming back down 4-1 in the deciding set to beat the nationally ranked defending CAA Player of the Year. This team is going out of their way to really impress me. More importantly, they are fun to be around and they are a great group of girls. They deserve the success they are having."

How It Happened
In doubles, the Tribe proved to be a formidable challenger. The Tribe picked up a couple of 6-2 wins on courts one and two, before battling to a 7-5 victory on court three to sweep doubles. The loss of the doubles points ends a streak of seven consecutive doubles points won by the Cougars. Over the course of the seven-match winning streak, the Cougars took the doubles point in each of the seven matches.

In singles, William & Mary doubled its lead with a 6-1, 6-0 win on court six.

The Cougars would fight back, winning the next two matches to even the score. Maja Jekauc won 7-5, 6-2 on court three and Elizabeth Nowak was victorious on court five, 6-1, 7-5.

After an intense battle on court two, the Cougars would grab a 3-2 lead behind Halli Trinkle's 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 victory. The win gives Trinkle 14 singles wins on the season.

The match would come down to courts one and four, both of which would enter a third set. The Tribe took the match on court four, setting up a showdown on court one to decide the match.

The Cougars would come out victorious, with Slade Coetzee erasing a 4-1 deficit in the deciding set to take down the #81 ranked player in the country Mila Saric - the defending CAA player of the Year. The win improves Coetzee to 14-1 on the season in singles play.

Full results are posted below.

Singles
1. Slade Coetzee (COFC) def. #81 Mila Saric (WM) 5-7, 6-3, 7-5
2. Halli Trinkle (COFC) def. Hedda Gurholt (WM) 6-4, 1-6, 6-3
3. Maja Jekauc (COFC) def. Elisa Van Meeteren (WM) 7-5, 6-2
4. Raffaela Alhach (WM) def. Kate Earnhardt (COFC) 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-0
5. Elizabeth Nowak (COFC) def. Ine Stange (WM) 6-1, 7-5
6. Emma Fernald (WM) def. Clara Errard (COFC) 6-1, 6-0

Doubles  
1. Mila Saric/Hedda Gurholt (WM) def. Halli Trinkle/Slade Coetzee (COFC) 6-2
2. Elisa Van Meeteren/Raffaela Alhach (WM) def. Clara Errard/Kate Earnhardt (COFC) 6-2
3. Ine Stange/Emma Fernald (WM) def. Elizabeth Nowak/Maja Jekauc (COFC) 7-5

Up Next
The Cougars will travel to Wilmington, N.C. to face CAA foe Towson in a neutral site match on Sunday. First serve is set for 9:00 a.m.