HOUSTON, Texas - The No. 34-ranked William and Mary women's tennis team dropped another highly competitive back-and-forth match in its trip to Texas, falling to host and No. 55-ranked Rice, 5-2, on Sunday afternoon. Freshman Olivia Thaler and sophomore Mélanie Roy posted singles wins for the Green and Gold, but the Owls won a pair of three-setters at No. 1 and No. 5 to cement the victory. W&M dropped to 10-4 on the year, while Rice won its fifth straight to improve to 9-7.

Senior Jeltje Loomans and junior Leeza Nemchinov continued their strong doubles campaign with a 6-4 win over the No. 67-ranked Rice pair of Natalie Beazant and Liat Zimmermann at the top spot. The No. 25-ranked Tribe duo ran its win streak to five, improving to 17-3 overall with 11 wins at No. 1. The Owls though picked up the initial point of the match with victories at No. 2 and No. 3, including a narrow 7-5 decision at the third post.

Thaler wasted little time getting the Tribe on the board with a convincing win at No. 3 singles. The Green and Gold rookie dropped only two games in routing Lindsey Hodge, 6-1, 6-1. Hodge entered the match at 18-6 on the year and 4-2 at No. 3, but Thaler prevailed to push her season ledger to 15-10, including a 5-2 mark at No. 3.

Rice answered with wins at No. 2 and No. 6 singles to extended its lead, before Roy notched a triumph at No. 4. The Tribe sophomore upended First-Team All-Conference USA senior Liat Zimmerman, 6-4, 7-5. It marked Roy's 11th win of the year as she improved to 4-1 at No. 4.

The balance of the match came down to three-set tilts at No. 1 and No. 5. After dropping the opening set, 6-2, to Savannah Durkin, freshman Maria Groener rallied with a tiebreaker win in the second set, 7-6 (1). The Green and Gold rookie could not maintain the momentum as Durkin bounced back to clinch the match for the Owls with a 6-0 win in the third.

The top singles position was a classic match-up pitting top 50 players against one another. Nemchinov, who is ranked No. 47 nationally and riding a 13-match win streak, claimed the opening set in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (5), from No. 23-ranked Natalie Beazant. The Rice All-American responded though with a 6-3 win in the second set, before outlasting the Tribe junior, 6-4, in the decisive third set. Beazant improved to 22-4 on the year, while Nemchinov fell to 20-3.

W&M returns home for a pair of matches, March 28-29, at the Millie West Tennis Facility. The Green and Gold hosts Ivy League foe Brown on Saturday, March 28, before welcoming Big East counterpart St. John's to Williamsburg on Sunday, March 29. Both matches carry an 11 a.m. start time.

No. 1 – #23 Natalie Beazant (Rice) def. #47 Leeza Nemchinov (W&M) – 6-7 (5), 6-3,6-4

No. 2 – Katherine Ip (Rice) def. Jeltje Loomans (W&M) – 6-4, 6-2

No. 3 – Olivia Thaler (W&M) def. Lindsey Hodge (Rice) – 6-1, 6-1
No. 4 – Mélanie Roy (W&M) def. Liat Zimmermann (Rice) – 6-4, 7-5
No. 5 – Savannah Durkin (Rice) def. Maria Groener (W&M) – 6-2, 6-7 (1), 6-0
No. 6 – Solomiya Zinko (Rice) def. Cecily Wuenscher (W&M) – 6-2, 6-2
Finishing Order: 3, 2, 6, 4, 5*, 1

Doubles
No. 1 – #25 Loomans/Nemchinov (W&M) def. #67 Beazant/Zimmermann (Rice) – 6-4

No. 2 – Ho/Hodge (Rice) def. Groener/Thaler (W&M) – 6-2
No. 3 – Durkin/Zinko (Rice) def. Casselbury/Roy (W&M) – 7-5

Finishing Order: 2, 1, 3*