WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The No. 50 William and Mary women's tennis team returned to the friendly confines of the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center and also returned to its winnings ways with a 6-1 triumph over Brown on Saturday afternoon. The Tribe claimed a thrilling doubles point thanks to victories at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions, before winning the top five singles spots in outdistancing the Bears. W&M improved to 11-4 on the year, while Brown fell to 7-6.

In doubles, the freshman tandem of Maria Groener and Olivia Thaler got W&M off on the right foot with a 6-4 win over Brown's Hannah Camhi and Maddie Sterns at No. 2. The Green and Gold pair improved to 13-6 overall and 11-3 in dual-match competition.

The initial point of the match came down to a pair of tiebreaker tilts at No. 1 and No. 3. After Brown pulled the upset at the top spot, all eyes turned to No. 3. Junior Julia Casselbury and freshman Cecily Wuenscher exploded out of the gates to a 4-1 lead, but the Brown pair of Ammu Mandalap and Nikita Uberoi won four straight games to move in front, 5-4. The Tribe duo won a no-ad point to force a tiebreaker, but fell behind 4-1 in the breaker. Casselbury and Wuenscher rallied by winning seven of the final nine points for an 8-6 tiebreaker win to improve to 2-1 at No. 3.

Senior Jeltje Loomans made quick work of Alyza Benotto, 6-2, 6-1, at No. 2 to extend the Tribe advantage to 2-0. She pushed her overall mark to 18-6 and 10-4 at the second singles spot. Brown responded with a win at No. 6 singles to get on the board.

After dropping the opening set, 6-3, junior Leeza Nemchinov rallied for a three-set win over Brown's Dayna Lord at No. 1. The No. 51-ranked player in the country pulled out a 6-4 win in the second set, before rolling to a 6-2 triumph in the third. With the win, Nemchinov ran her season mark to 21-3 overall and 13-1 at No. 1.  

Thaler clinched the team victory improving to 6-2 at the No. 3 spot. The Green and Gold rookie won the opening set, 6-4, before outlasting Camhi in a second-set tiebreaker, 7-6 (3). She won her second straight match, upping her ledger to 16-10.

Sophomore Mélanie Roy posted a come-from-behind three-set win at the No. 4 post for her fifth victory in the last six matches. After dropping the opening set, 6-1, to Nikita Uberoi, Roy won all but  two games in the final two sets to pick up a 6-0, 6-2 victory. She improved to 12-10 overall with her ninth-dual-match win of the year.

Groener rounded out the W&M victory with a win at No. 5. The Tribe rookie downed Ammu Mandalap, 6-4, 6-4, at No. 5. It was Groener's 17th win of the year as she improved to 10-5 in dual-match competition.

The Tribe closes out the weekend when it hosts Big East foe St. John's on Sunday. The match is slated for an 11 a.m. start time and will be played indoors at the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center.

No. 1 – #51 Leeza Nemchinov (W&M) def. Dayna Lord (Brown) – 3-6, 6-4, 6-2

No. 2 – Jeltje Loomans (W&M) def. Alyza Benotto (Brown) – 6-2, 6-1

No. 3 – Olivia Thaler (W&M) def. Hannah Camhi (Brown) – 6-4, 7-6 (3)

No. 4 – Mélanie Roy (W&M) def. Nikita Uberoi (Brown) – 1-6, 6-0, 6-2

No. 5 – Maria Groener (W&M) def. Ammu Mandalap (Brown) – 6-4, 6-4

No. 6 – Maddie Stearns (Brown) def. Cecily Wuenscher (W&M) – 7-6, 6-2

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

No. 1 – Lord/Benotto (Brown) def. #41 Loomans/Nemchinov (W&M) – 7-6 (4)

No. 2 – Groener/Thaler (W&M) def. Camhi/Stearns (Brown) – 6-4

No. 3 – Casselbury/Wuenscher (W&M) def. Mandalap/Uberoi (Brown) – 7-6 (6)

Finishing Order: 2, 1, 3*