RICHMOND, Va. - The William and Mary women's tennis team suffered a narrow 4-3 setback at No. 39 VCU on Tuesday afternoon. The Green and Gold took the doubles point and despite an Anik Cepeda win at No. 3, the Tribe trailed VCU, 3-2, with three-set matches at No. 1 and No. 2 deciding the team outcome. The Rams claimed a win at the top singles position to cement the victory and run its win streak to nine matches. W&M fell to 14-5 on the year, while VCU upped its ledger to 18-4.

W&M used a bit of a different look in doubles, but took the initial point of the match for the 12th on the year. Cepeda and junior Hope Johnson won their third straight at the No. 2 doubles post to put the Green and Gold on the board. The Tribe pair dispatched of VCU's Cindy Chala and Josefin Hjertquist, 8-3, for its seventh win of the year. After the Rams tied doubles with a win at No. 3, junior Maria Belaya and freshman Leeza Nemchinov clinched the point by winning at the No. 1 slot. Playing together for the first time, the Tribe twosome won the final four games in downing Olga Baruscheuskaya and Daria Yakauleva, 8-6.

VCU picked up wins at the No. 5 and No. 6 singles positions to surge ahead of the Tribe, before Cepeda pulled the Green and Gold even at two. The Tribe senior won for the 11th time in her last 12 matches, upending Hjertquist in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4, at the No. 3 spot. Cepeda won her 85th career singles matches, improving to a team-best 24-12 on the year. She improved her team-best dual-match ledger to 16-3, including a 4-0 mark at No. 3.

After VCU pulled ahead with a win at No. 4 singles, the match came down to three-set affairs at the top two spots. In a battle of nationally-ranked players, Belaya, who moved to No. 124 in the singles polls released on Tuesday, squared off with VCU's No. 75-ranked Cindy Chala at the top post. Chala took the opening set in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (3), before Belaya bounced back with a 6-2 win in the second. The VCU player would come out on top, though, taking the third set, 7-5, to clinch the team triumph for the Rams.

Nemchinov rounded out the match with a come-from-behind three-set at No. 2 for the Green and Gold. After VCU's Yukako Noi won the opening set in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (2), Nemchinov rallied to win the second, 6-4. The Tribe rookie led the third set, 2-1, before the Ram player retired. Nemchinov won her 21st match of the season, improving to 15-4 in duals and 6-2 at the No. 2 position.

The Tribe will close out the regular season with Senior Day on Saturday, April 13, against Old Dominion. W&M will host the Monarchs at Millie West Tennis Facility beginning at 2 p.m. Ten points will be up for grabs in the Optima Health Challenge, a running score of all the direct competitions between W&M and ODU. For the second consecutive year, the Tribe and Monarchs have partnered with title sponsor, Optima Health, for the Challenge. A champion will be named at the end of the 2012-13 athletic season and receive the Optima Health Trophy. The current standings are tied at 45 apiece with 10 points available in each of the three remaining sports (men's tennis, women's tennis and baseball). The contest will also be Senior Day as the Tribe honors its two-member senior class of Anik Cepeda and Marlen Mesgarzadeh.

No. 1 – #75 Cindy Chala (VCU) def. #124 Maria Belaya (W&M) – 6-7 (3), 6-2, 7-5

No. 2 – Leeza Nemchinov (W&M) def. Yukako Noi (VCU) – 6-7 (2), 6-4, 2-1, retire

No. 3 – Anik Cepeda (W&M) def. Josefin Hjertquist (VCU) – 6-3, 6-4

No. 4 – Salome Kvitashvili (VCU) def. Jeltje Loomans (W&M) – 6-4, 7-6 (10)

No. 5 – Olga Terteac (VCU) def. Hope Johnson (W&M) – 6-4, 6-1

No. 6 – Olga Barscheuskaya (VCU) def. Sydney Smith  (W&M) – 6-2, 6-2

Finishing Order: 5, 6, 3, 4, 1*, 2

No. 1 – Belaya/Nemchinov (W&M) def. Baruscheuskaya/Yakauleva (VCU) – 8-6

No. 2 – Cepeda/Johnson (W&M) def. Chala/Hjertquist (VCU) – 8-3

No. 3 – Terteac/Kvitashvili (VCU) def. Loomans/Smith (W&M) – 8-4

Finishing Order: 2, 3, 1*