WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – After a week off, the William & Mary women's tennis team returns to action with a pair of matches in Texas over the weekend. The Green and Gold faces West Coast Conference foe BYU on Saturday, Feb. 20, at 1 p.m. CT before taking on No. 10 Texas Tech on Sunday, Feb. 21, at 11 a.m. CT. Both matches will be played at the McLeod Tennis Center in Lubbock, Texas. 
 
Scouting #39 William & Mary
The Tribe moved up into the national top 40, garnering the No. 39 spot in the latest ITA National Rankings released on Wednesday. W&M was off last weekend after splitting its opening two home matches against nationally-ranked competition. The Green and Gold upset No. 29 South Carolina, 5-2, before closing the weekend with a 6-1 setback to No. 64 Wake Forest. Both senior Elizaveta Nemchinov and junior Marie Faure garnered national singles rankings at No. 85 and No. 91, respectively, last week. W&M was one of only 24 teams nationally and one of four outside the power five conferences to have two players ranked in the singles top 100. Along with her national ranking, Nemchinov earned CAA Player of the Week honors for the second time this season after positing a win over the No. 43-ranked player in the country from South Carolina. She leads the Tribe at 10-4 on the year, including a 4-2 mark at No. 1 singles. Faure, who upset the No. 54-ranked player in the country in the victory over South Carolina, is 6-2 since joining the Tribe in January. Nemchinov and Faure have combined to become W&M's top doubles team as well and sport a 3-1 mark on the year. The Tribe is 5-3 entering the weekend and has already garnered a trio of top-50 nationally-ranked wins.
 
Scouting #10 Texas Tech
Opening the year at 8-1, Texas Tech has jumped from No. 17 in the national rankings to No. 10 in the latest standings released on Wednesday. The Red Raiders, who finished last season at 21-7 and advanced to the round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament, garnered a spot in the ITA National Indoor Championships and posted a pair of top-15 wins at the event. They qualified for the event with wins over No. 58 Illinois and No. 60 Oregon in the ITA Kickoff Weekend, before upending No. 11 Miami (Fla.) and No. 13 Alabama at the national championship after opening with a setback to No. 2 Georgia. The Red Raiders, who also have a win over No. 30 Fresno State, host BYU on Friday, before taking on the Tribe on Sunday. Gabriela Talaba, who is ranked No. 80 nationally, plays No. 1 for Texas Tech and was a First Team All-Big 12 selection last season. Sarah Dvorak, who was a First Team All-Big 12 selection and the ITA Texas Region Rookie of the Year last season, is a perfect 7-0 in duals at No. 2 and No. 3 for the Red Raiders, while both Felicity Maltby and Sabrina Federici are 6-0 and 6-1, respectively, in duals primarily at the bottom two singles spots.  Lynn Kiro and Alex Valenstein are ranked No. 44 nationally in doubles, while Kiro and Talaba have played recently at the No. 1 spot. Federici and Maltby are 6-2 at No. 3 in doubles for the Red Raiders.
 
Series History: W&M vs. Texas Tech
The Tribe and Red Raiders meet for the second time on Sunday. No. 18 Texas Tech beat No. 43 W&M, 5-2, in Williamsburg during the 2014 campaign. The Tribe won at the top two singles positions in the match, including a victory from current senior Elizaveta Nemchinov at No. 2 singles.
 
Scouting BYU
The Cougars are 1-4 on the year with three of its four setbacks coming to nationally-ranked opponents. BYU faces Texas Tech on Friday, before meeting W&M on Saturday. The Cougars opened the season with a split against nationally-ranked competition in Charlottesville. They fell to No. 7-ranked UVA, 7-0, before downing No. 66 Maryland, 5-2. Last weekend, BYU played a pair of matches in Missouri, falling to No. 32 Wichita State, 4-0, and the host Tigers, 5-2. They also dropped their lone home match of the year to No. 69 Denver, 4-3. The Cougars spent most of last season in the national rankings, before finishing the year at 10-13. Mayci Jones has held down the No. 1 post for BYU, including a win against Maryland. Toby Miclat is 3-1 in duals, playing primarily at the No. 2 and No. 3 singles positions, while Nicolette Poulsen (No. 4) and Natella Nabieva (No. 5) own a pair of dual-match victories in singles. Jones and Miclat comprised the Cougars' No. 1 doubles teams, which has won two of its last three matches.
 
Series History: W&M vs. BYU
The Tribe and Cougars will meet for the fourth time and the first since 2004. The previous three meetings have all been at neutral sites as well. No. 14 BYU downed W&M, 5-4, at Kansas in 1998, before the Tribe topped the Cougars, 8-1, at Notre Dame a year later. The most recent meeting came as part of the ITA National Indoor Championship in 2004 when No. 45 BYU slipped by the Tribe, 4-3, in Wisconsin.