Atlanta, Ga. - The No. 43-ranked William and Mary women's tennis team fell in the consolation match of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend to CAA foe and No. 54-ranked Georgia State, 4-2, at the Bill Moore Tennis Center on Saturday afternoon. The Tribe won the doubles point and sophomore Maria Belaya claimed a singles win at the No. 3 post, but the Panthers pulled out the team triumph with a quartet of singles wins. W&M fell to 0-3 on the year, while Georgia State upped its mark to 3-1.

The Tribe opened the match by taking the doubles point with victories at the top two positions. The pair of junior Anik Cepeda and sophomore Hope Johnson jumped out to an early advantage on the way to an 8-2 victory over Maryna Kozachenko and Caimaa Roudami at the No. 2 slot. It marked the W&M tandem's first win of the dual-match season. The sophomore duo of Maria Belaya and Jeltje Loomans clinched the initial point of the match, downing Whitney Byrd and Tereza Lerova, 8-4, at the top spot. Belaya and Loomans improved to 8-6 on the year.

After a pair of singles wins gave Georgia State at 2-1 lead, Belaya evened things with a straight-sets win at the No. 3 post. She downed Kozachenko, 6-3, 6-3, for her second victory of the season.

The Panthers retook the lead at 3-2 following a win at the No. 6 position, before the match came down to a pair of three-setters at the No. 2 and No. 4 slots. After dropping the first set in a tiebreaker, 7-6, Cepeda claimed the second set from Byrd, 6-3. In the decisive third, Byrd broke open an early stalemate with four straight games in pulling out a 6-2 victory to clinch the Panthers team triumph.

Junior Marlen Mesgarzadeh was well on her way to a second straight victory at the No. 2 spot, but her match was abandoned with the team result already decided. Mesgarzadeh jumped out to a set advantage by taking the first, 6-4, before the Panthers' Tereza Lerova took the second, 6-4. The Tribe junior led 5-2 in the third set, before the match was called. On Friday, Mesgarzadeh tallied an impressive win in straight sets over the No. 33-ranked player in the country from South Carolina.

The Tribe will continue it opening road swing when it travels to Minneapolis, Minn., to face the Golden Gophers on Friday, Feb. 3, at 5 p.m. W&M will also face No. 28 Washington in Minneapolis 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.

#54 Georgia State 4, #43 William and Mary 2
Singles
No. 1 - Abigail Tere-Apisah (GSU) def. Jeltje Loomans (W&M) - 6-3, 6-4
No. 2 - Marlen Mesgarzadeh (W&M) vs. Tereza Lerova (GSU) - 6-4, 4-6, 5-2, abandoned
No. 3 - Maria Belaya (W&M) def. Maryna Kozachenko (GSU) - 6-3, 6-3
No. 4 - Whitney Byrd (GSU) def. Anik Cepeda (W&M) - 7-6, 3-6, 6-2
No. 5 - Masa Grgan (GSU) vs. Hope Johnson (W&M) - 6-0, 6-0
No. 6 - Chaimaa Roudami (GSU) def. Katie Kargl (W&M) - 6-4, 6-4
Finishing Order: 5, 1, 3, 6, 4*

Doubles
No. 1 - Belaya/Loomans (W&M) def. Byrd/Lerova (GSU) - 8-4
No. 2 - Cepeda/Johnson (W&M) def. Kozachenko/Roudami (GSU) - 8-2
No. 3 - Mesgarzadeh/Kargl (W&M) vs. Grgan/Ondrackova (GSU) - 5-6, abandoned
Finishing Order: 2, 1*