WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - The William and Mary women's tennis team knocked off its second nationally ranked opponent in as many matches, upending Big Ten foe and No. 63-ranked Maryland, 5-2, at the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center on Sunday afternoon. Leading 3-2 after winning the doubles point and matches at No. 2 and No. 5 singles, junior Leeza Nemchinov picked up a thrilling win at the No. 1 spot to clinch the victory. The Tribe ran its win streak to four matches and improved to 5-1 on the year, while the Terrapins fell to 1-2.

In a match-up of regionally-ranked players at the No. 1 spot, Nemchinov rallied from a 4-2 deficit in the opening set against Alexandra Stanova, winning five of the final six games to take the set, 7-5. Stanova, who was ranked No. 9 in the ITA Atlantic Region, jumped out to a 3-1 advantage in the second, but again Nemchinov mounted a comeback. She broke Stanova to take a 6-5 lead, before the Maryland player broke right back to force a second-set tiebreaker. Nemchinov, who is ranked No. 11 in the ITA Atlantic Region, jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the breaker. After Stanova pulled even at two, Nemchinov ripped off four straight points, before her cross-court return on the second match point of the tiebreaker nicked the right sideline to give the Tribe the victory. It was Nemchinov's sixth straight win as she improved to an impressive 13-2 overall and 5-0 at the No. 1 position.

For the fifth straight match, the Tribe claimed the doubles point jumping out to the early 1-0 advantage. Senior Jeltje Loomans and Nemchinov continued their winning ways with a 6-3 triumph over Welma Luus and Nataliya Bredikhina at the No. 1 position. It marked the Tribe pair's fifth straight win as they improved to 11-2.

The Green and Gold tandem of junior Julia Casselbury and sophomore Mélanie Roy clinched the doubles point with their first nationally ranked win at No. 2. The Tribe duo rolled to a 6-2 win over Stanova and Olivia Gaudreault, who entered the match ranked No. 48 in the ITA National Rankings and No. 5 in the Atlantic Region. It was Casselbury and Roy's third victory of the year.

Freshman Maria Groener pushed the Tribe lead to 2-0 with a win at No. 5. After having her eight-match winning streak snapped in three sets at Wake Forest, the Tribe rookie bounced back with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Welma Luus. She improved to 12-5 overall and 5-1 in dual-match play.

After Maryland picked up its first win of the day at No. 6, Loomans gave W&M a 3-1 cushion with a straight-sets win at No. 2. She won her fourth straight match, downing Nataliya Bredikhina, 6-3, 7-5, to up her dual-match mark to 5-1 and her season ledger to 12-3. The Terrapins again pulled within one at 3-2 on a win at No. 3, before Nemchinov's victory at the top spot cemented the Tribe win.

Freshman Olivia Thaler rounded out the Tribe win with a three-set win at the No. 4 position. The Tribe rookie jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the opening set against Hovsepyan, but the Terp won three straight games to pull even at five. Thaler pulled out the first set, 7-5, by winning the final two games. After Hovsepyan picked up a 7-5 win in the second set, the close match-up went to a tiebreaker in a back and forth third set. Hovsepyan jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the breaker, before Thaler won four straight points to take a 6-5 lead. With the tiebreaker tied at seven, the Tribe freshman won the final two points in claiming her ninth win of the season, 7-6 (7).

The Tribe will have two weeks off before returning to action with a pair of road matches against nationally-ranked competition. W&M treks to No. 24 Mississippi on Sunday, Feb. 15, before heading to No. 58 Memphis on Monday, Feb. 16. Both road tilts carry a noon start time.

No. 1 – Leeza Nemchinov (W&M) def. Alexandra Stanova (UMD) – 7-5, 7-6 (3)

No. 2 – #80 Jeltje Loomans (W&M) def. Nataliya Bredikhina (UMD) – 6-3, 7-5

No. 3 – Ekaterina Tour (UMD) def. Mélanie Roy (W&M) – 6-3, 6-3

No. 4 – Olivia Thaler (W&M) def. Kristina Hovspeyan (UMD) – 7-5, 5-7, 7-6 (7)

No. 5 – Maria Groener (W&M) def. Welma Luus (UMD) – 6-3, 6-3

No. 6 – Olga Bredikhina (UMD) def. Cecily Wuenscher (W&M) – 6-2, 6-0

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

No. 1 – Loomans/Nemchinov (W&M) def. Luus/N. Bredikhina (UMD) – 6-3

No. 2 – Casselbury/Roy (W&M) def. #48 Stanova/Gaudreault (UMD) – 6-2

No. 3 – Thaler/Groener (W&M) vs. Tour/Hovsepyan (UMD) – DNF, 4-4

Finishing Order: 1, 2*