WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - The William & Mary women's tennis team hits the road for a pair of matches against Ivy League competition this weekend. The Green and Gold travels to Brown on Saturday, March 25, at 10 a.m., before heading to Harvard on Sunday, March 26, at 11:30 a.m. Fans can purchase live video for the Harvard match through the Ivy League Digital Network.
 
Scouting the Tribe
W&M moved up two spots in the Oracle/ITA Division I Women's Collegiate Tennis Rankings, released on Tuesday, to No. 41. The Green and Gold improved to 7-8 on the year following its 6-1 win over James Madison on March 19. Seven of W&M's eight losses this season have come to teams currently inside the national top 35, including setbacks to No. 17 Duke, No. 21 Kansas, No. 24 South Carolina, No. 26 Notre Dame, No. 31 Wake Forest, No. 32 Tulsa and No. 35 N.C. State. The Tribe also owns a pair of nationally-ranked wins, knocking off current No. 33 Maryland and No. 39 Dartmouth. In the victory over the Dukes, W&M took the doubles point with wins at the top two positions. Juniors Eakaterina Stepanova and Olivia Thaler evened their record at 3-3 at No. 2, while senior Marie Faure and sophomore Lauren Goodman won their sixth-straight at No. 1, upping their dual-match mark to 7-2. In singles, the Tribe won five of the six spots against the Dukes . Stepanova (No. 1), Faure (No. 2), Goodman (No. 4) each posted singles wins to go along with their doubles victories, while freshman Rosie Cheng and junior Maria Groener added singles triumphs at No. 5 and No. 6.  After going 2-0 at the top singles position last week, including a win over Notre Dame's Monica Robinson, Stepanova was named the CAA Player of the Week for the second time this season. She ran her win streak to four matches, while improving to 12-8 overall and 7-4 at No. 1. Cheng also went perfect during the week in singles, coupling her win over JMU with a straight-set victory over Mary Closs of Notre Dame. Cheng has won five-straight matches and is 7-3 in dual-match play. Faure continues to lead W&M with 17 singles wins, including seven in dual-match competition.
 
Scouting Brown
Brown sits at 7-4 on the year following its most recent win, 7-0, at Boston University. The Bears are 3-0 at home this season with victories over Rhode Island, UMass and Stony Brook. Brown had won four straight over Harvard, Boston College, Syracuse and Stony Brook, before dropping back-to-back road games at San Diego, 6-1, and San Diego State, 4-3, to kick off the month of March. The Tribe and Bears have one common opponent in No. 39 Dartmouth. Brown lost to the Big Green, 4-1, in the ECAC Indoor Championships, while the Tribe picked up a 6-1 victory over Dartmouth in Williamsburg. Alyza Benotto and Dayna Lord have split time between the top two singles positions and have combined to form Brown's top doubles pairing. Benotto is 7-2 in dual-match singles play and 14-5 overall, while Lord owns a 14-7 overall mark and a 6-5 leger in duals.  Together, the pair is 19-3 in doubles competition. They are 9-1 at No. 1 and have won four straight.
 
Series History: W&M vs. Brown
The Tribe leads the all-time series with Brown at 5-1. W&M has won the last two meetings between the programs, both in Williamsburg. In the most recent contest, the Green and Gold topped the Bears, 6-1, in 2015. The teams split the two meetings in Providence, R.I. The Bears downed W&M, 4-3, in 2010 after W&M tallied a 5-0 win in the 1997 NCAA Tournament.
 
Scouting Harvard
After dropping its first four matches of the year, the Crimson have won 12 of their last 13 and sit at 12-5. Harvard is currently riding an eight-match win streak, following a three-match sweep of Texas State, 4-1, Cal State Northridge, 4-0, and UCSB, 5-2, during the team's trip to California last week. Erica Oosterhout holds down the No. 1 singles position for the Crimson. She is 13-6 overall, including a 10-3 mark at the top spot. June Lee leads team with 17 singles wins and owns a 12-4 ledger in duals at the top two positions. Irene Lu has 15 singles wins, while racking up a 9-4 dual-match record playing throughout the lineup. Lee and Oosterhout are 12-8 in doubles, including six wins at No. 1.  Natasha Gonzalez and Lu have also been strong in doubles for the Crimson at 10-2 overall and 6-1 in duals.
 
Series History: W&M vs. Harvard
The Tribe leads the all-time series with the Crimson at 24-7, and has won 22 of the last 23 matches between the programs. In the most recent meeting, W&M posted a 5-2 win last season in Williamsburg. The last meeting in Cambridge, Mass., was also a W&M victory, 5-2.