WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – In a match-up of top-50 teams, the William & Mary women's tennis team and No. 34-ranked Notre Dame went back and forth in a highly-competitive tilt on Wednesday afternoon at the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center. Junior Ekaterina Stepanova and freshman Rosie Cheng both tallied singles for the No. 43-ranked Tribe (6-8), but in the end, Notre Dame (13-1) won its 10th straight, 5-2, by claiming the last two singles wins in three sets. 
 
After Notre Dame jumped out to a 2-0 lead, taking the doubles point and winning at No. 6 singles, the Tribe answered with two victories to pull even. Cheng started the Green and Gold rally with a straight-sets win at No. 5. The Tribe rookie fought off a set point in the first-set tiebreaker, upending Mary Closs, 7-6 (7). Cheng carried that momentum over to the second, rolling a 6-1 win in handing Closs her first dual-match loss of the season. Cheng won her fourth straight and improved to 10-8 overall, while Closs dropped to 9-1 in duals.
 
Stepanova tied the match at two with her third-straight victory at the top singles position. Notre Dame's Monica Robinson jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the opening set, before the Tribe junior ripped off six-straight games to take the first. The counterparts went back and forth in the second set all the way to a tiebreaker, before Stepanova pulled away at the end, downing Robinson, 7-6 (4). She improved to 6-4 at No. 1 and 11-8 overall, while Robinson dropped to 10-2 at the top spot.
 
After an Irish win at No. 3, the match came down to three-set affairs at No. 2 and No. 4. Senior Marie Faure jumped out to an early lead with a 6-4 first-set win over Brooke Broda at the second post. The Irish player matched Faure with a 6-4 victory in the second and then clinched the Notre Dame team triumph with a 6-2 win in the third.
 
At No. 4, freshman Natalia Perry rolled to a 6-2 first-set win over Notre Dame's Zoe Spence, who entered the match at 17-5 overall and 12-1 in dual-match play. Spence answered with a 7-5 win in the second and then rallied to pick up a 7-5 triumph in the third to round out the Irish victory.
 
In doubles, the Tribe duo of Faure and sophomore Lauren Goodman led Closs and Robinson, 5-4, at No. 1, but the match was abandoned when Notre Dame clinched the point with a win at No. 2. Broda and Allison Miller pulled out a narrow 6-4 win over Stepanova and junior Oliva Thaler to give the visiting Irish a 1-0 cushion.
 
The Tribe returns to action on Sunday, March 19, when it hosts league foe James Madison in a rematch of last season's CAA Championship match. The tilt carries a 1 p.m. start time from the Millie West Tennis Facility, weather permitting.
 
#34 Notre Dame 5, #43 William & Mary 2
Singles
No. 1 – Ekaterina Stepanova (W&M) def. Monica Robinson (Notre Dame) – 6-3, 7-6 (4)
No. 2 – Brooke Broda (Notre Dame) def. Marie Faure (W&M) – 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
No. 3 – Allison Miller (Notre Dame) def. Lauren Goodman (W&M) – 6-2, 7-6 (3)
No. 4 – Zoe Spence (Notre Dame) def. Natalia Perry (W&M) – 2-6, 7-5, 7-5
No. 5 – Rosie Cheng (W&M) def. Mary Closs (Notre Dame) – 7-6 (7), 6-1
No. 6 – Rachel Chong (Notre Dame) def. Olivia Thaler (W&M) – 6-1, 6-3
Finishing Order: 6, 5, 1, 3, 2*, 4
 
Doubles
No. 1 - #71 Faure/Goodman (W&M) vs. Closs/Robinson (Notre Dame) – DNF, 5-4
No. 2 – Broda/Miller (Notre Dame) def. Stepanova/Thaler (W&M) – 6-4
No. 3 – Fennelly/Spence (Notre Dame) def. Perry/Wuenscher (W&M) – 6-1
Finishing Order: 3, 2*