WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - The William and Mary women's tennis team wraps up a five-match road trip as it travels to Houston, Texas for matches against a pair of Conference USA foes this weekend. The No. 44-ranked Tribe squares off with No. 27 Rice on Saturday, March 23, before moving crosstown to meet Houston on Sunday, March 24. Both matches carry a noon ET start times.

Scouting the Tribe
W&M fell to No. 44 in the national rankings following a weekend split of its matches on the road at Georgetown and Maryland. The Tribe saw its seven-match win streak come to a close at the hands of the Hoyas, 4-3, on Saturday. With the threat of rain, the teams played singles first, and the Tribe tallied wins at the top three positions thanks to junior Maria Belaya, freshman Leeza Nemchinov and senior Anik Cepeda. Georgetown countered with three singles wins and took the match by claiming the doubles point. On Sunday, the Tribe took the doubles point, before winning at the No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 singles positions to outdistance the Terps, 4-3. Nemchinov and Cepeda continued their strong springs with straight set wins, while junior Hope Johnson clinched the team win with a victory at No. 5. Nemchinov and Cepeda lead the way for the Tribe at 13-2 during the dual-match campaign. Cepeda tops the team with 21 singles wins overall, while Nemchinov has 19. In doubles, Belaya and junior Jeltje Loomans are 21-2 on the season, following its win at Maryland.

Rice, who is ranked No. 27 nationally, enters the contest with the Tribe on a tear, winning each of its last six matches on the way to an 11-4 overall mark. Included in the Owls' recent hot streak was the program's first win over No. 29 Texas, 4-3, on March 2. Two of Rice's four losses this season have come to current No. 20-ranked Texas Tech. The Owls are 1-1 in Conference USA play with a 6-1 win over Tulane and a 5-2 setback at Tulsa. Most recently, Rice dispatched of Texas A&M Corpus Christi, 4-0, on March 19. The Rice lineup features a pair of nationally ranked singles players in No. 59 Natalie Beazant and No. 105 Dominique Harmath. Beazant is 19-6 overall and 10-3 at No. 1, while Harmath owns an 18-5 ledger, including a 10-3 mark at the second singles post. They combine to form the No. 33-ranked doubles team in the country. The duo is 19-5 overall, including a 13-2 ledger at the No. 1 post. W&M is 3-0 all-time vs. Rice and will travel to Houston to face the Owls for the first time. The Tribe defeated Rice, 7-0, in the teams last meeting in Williamsburg during the 2006 campaign.

The Cougars enter the weekend with a 12-5 record, winning each of its last two contests. Following a win over Western Michigan on March 15, Houston downed Arkansas-Little Rock, 6-1, on Wednesday. U of H will host TCU on Saturday, before welcoming the Tribe to the Houston Country Club on Sunday. The Cougars are 6-2 at home this season and are also 1-0 in Conference USA, following a 7-0 win over Southern Mississippi earlier this season. Elena Kordolaimi plays No. 1 for Houston and owns a 10-6 mark, while Maja Kazimieruk and Rocio Martin Fernandez have the top two singles marks for the Cougars at 15-2 and 12-4, respectively. Fernandez and Charlotte Phillips comprise U of H's top doubles team and they are 5-5 at No. 1. Celia Fraser and Maja Kazimieruk are 12-2 at No. 3 doubles for Houston, while Kordolaimi and Jo Garvey are 9-3 at No. 2. Sunday will be the first meeting between W&M and Houston.

- Seven of the Tribe's 15 matches this season have been decided by the narrowest of margins at 4-3. The Green and Gold is 5-2 in those matches with wins over No. 19 Mississippi, UNCW, Virginia Tech, No. 30 South Carolina and Maryland.

- Following the trip to Texas against Houston and Rice, the Tribe will have nearly two weeks off, before returning to action against No. 56 Georgia State on Friday, April 5. That match is slated for a 3 p.m. at the Millie West Tennis Facility.

- The Tribe doubles team of juniors Maria Belaya and Jeltje Loomans continued to roll through the competition this season. The duo owns a 21-2 mark overall, including a 12-1 dual-match ledger. They have won 10 straight matches entering the weekend. The pair has been ranked among the top five doubles teams in the country throughout the spring season and currently resides at No. 5 in the standing released on March 12.