GILBERT, Ariz. -- Ahead of the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference Women's Tennis Championship this weekend, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) released its updated national rankings and Christopher Newport tandem Kendal Chang and Kylie Schaefer hauled in a spot at No. 21 in the country. 

Schaefer is no stranger to the national rankings as she was one-half of the highest-ranked doubles partnership in program history last year when she and Raine Weis were pegged No. 7 in the country. For Chang, the sophomore collects her first national ranking with the No. 21 billing. 

The ITA Team, Singles, and Doubles national rankings were released on Wednesday, April 29 with the Chang/Schaefer tandem headlining the polls for CNU. The Captains are now ranked No. 36 in the team rankings as they prepare to defend the two-time conference championship in the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference Tournament this weekend. 

This season, Chang and Schaefer have paired up for a 7-4 record at No. 1 doubles. The duo has wins at No. 1 against nationally-ranked Kenyon, Whitman, Case Western Reserve, Tufts, and Salisbury this year. In the Atlantic South Regional Rankings, Chang and Schaefer are ranked No. 8 in the area. 

As a team, the second-seeded Captains will travel to Fredericksburg, Va. to open the C2C Championship on Saturday, May 2 against third-seeded UC Santa Cruz at 2:00 p.m. Both teams will advance to play on Sunday with the winning team competing for a championship and the losing team facing of in the third-place match, both at 10:00 a.m. 

The Captains are 7-11 overall this season heading into the championship, where they were crowned winners in 2024 and 2025. The two-time defending conference champs will face third-seeded Santa Cruz, coming in with an 8-9 overall record. The Banana Slugs are ranked No. 10 in the West Region and No. 48 in the national rankings.