Minneapolis, Minn. - The William and Mary women's tennis team fell on the road at Big Ten foe Minnesota, 5-2, on Friday night at the Baseline Tennis Center. The match came down to a quartet of three-set singles tilts, and with the match tied at 2, the Golden Gophers pulled out the final three, three-set affairs to claim the victory. Minnesota improved to 3-0 on the year, while W&M dropped to 0-4.

After a Gopher win at the No. 3 doubles position, the Tribe sophomore tandem of Jeltje Loomans and Maria Belaya won for the second straight time to even the pairs competition. Loomans and Belaya bounced the Minnesota duo of Julia Courter and Emilie Renault, 8-5, at the top doubles position to improve to 9-5 on the year. The Golden Gophers though captured the opening point of the match with victory at the No. 2 pairs position.

Belaya added her second straight singles win as well at the No. 3 post to even the match at one. The Tribe sophomore tallied her third victory of the season with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Yuliana Umanets. Belaya improved to 2-1 in dual-match competition for the Green and Gold.

The Golden Gophers retook the lead with a win at the No. 2 singles slot, before sophomore Hope Johnson knotted the contest for a second time with a triumph at the No. 5 spot. After missing the entire fall season with an injury, Johnson needed three sets, but registered her first win of the year. She claimed the first set, 6-1, before Minnesota's Tereza Brichacova forced a decisive third set with an identical 6-1 win in the second. Johnson would not be denied as she took the third set, 6-2.

The balance of the match came down to three-set tilts at the No. 1, No. 4 and No. 6 spots. After dropping the first set, 7-5, at the No. 1 position, Loomans bounced back with a 6-3 win in the second over Minnesota's Natallia Pintusava. The Gophers' top player pulled out the victory with a 6-3 triumph in the third and brought Minnesota within a single win of the team triumph.

At the No. 6 position, senior Katie Kargl jumped out to a set advantage over the Golden Gophers' Doron Muravnik with a tiebreaker win, 7-6 (1), in the first. The Minnesota junior rallied to claim the clinching victory with 6-3, 6-2 wins in the second and third sets. Rounding out singles play, the Gophers' Julia Courter outlasted junior Anik Cepeda in three sets, 7-5, 5-7, 7-6 (3).

W&M will return to action in Minnesota on Saturday, Feb. 4, when it faces No. 28 Washington at the Baseline Tennis Center. The match is slated for a 1 p.m. CT start.

Minnesota 5, #50 William and Mary 2
Singles
No. 1 - Natallia Pintusava (MINN) def. Jeltje Loomans (W&M) - 7-5, 3-6, 6-3
No. 2 - Alexa Palen (MINN) def. Marlen Mesgarzadeh (W&M) - 6-3, 6-1
No. 3 - Maria Belaya (W&M) def. Yuliana Umanets (MINN) - 6-4, 6-3
No. 4 - Julia Courter (MINN) def. Anik Cepeda (W&M) - 7-5, 5-7, 7-6 (3)
No. 5 - Hope Johnson (W&M) def. Tereza Brichacova (MINN) - 6-1, 1-6, 6-2
No. 6 - Doron Muravnik (MINN) def. Katie Kargl (W&M) - 6-7 (1), 6-3, 6-2
Finishing Order: 3, 2, 5, 1, 6*, 4

Doubles
No. 1 - Loomans/Belaya (W&M) def. Courter/Renault (MINN) - 8-5
No. 2 - Palen/Brichacova (MINN) def. Cepeda/Johnson (W&M) - 8-4
No. 3 - Pintusava/Umanets (MINN) def. Kargl/Mesgarzadeh (W&M) - 8-4 
Finishing Order: 3, 1, 2*