WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The No. 49-ranked William & Mary women's tennis team dropped a top-50 tussle against No. 47 Rice, 6-1, on Saturday afternoon at the Millie West Tennis Facility. The match was delayed an hour from its original start time following heavy rains in the Williamsburg area on Friday evening. The Owls (11-5) narrowed claimed the doubles point despite a nationally-ranked win from juniors Eketarina Stepanova and Olivia Thaler, but freshman Rosie Cheng was the only singles victor for the Green and Gold (9-10).
 
Stepanova and Olivia Thaler continued their winning ways with a victory over a nationally-ranked foe to give W&M the early lead in doubles. The Tribe tandem upended the No. 79-ranked Alison Ho and Priya Niezgoda, 6-2, for its fifth-straight win to improve to 7-3 at the second post. Ho and Niezgoda entered the match at 11-3 on the year. After a Rice win at No. 3, the doubles point came down to a tiebreaker at the top spot. The No. 70-ranked Owl pair of Wendy Zhang and Lindsey Hodge outlasted senior Marie Faure and Lauren Goodman, 7-6, to clinch the initial point of the match for the visitors.
 
Cheng won her ninth-straight singles tilt to close the gap to 2-1. The Tribe rookie upend Rice sophomore Fernada Astete, 6-1, 6-2, at the No. 4 singles spot. She improved to 4-1 at the fourth singles position, a team-best 11-3 in dual-match play and 15-8 overall.
 
The Owls answered with singles wins at No. 2 and No. 3 to secure the team triumph. The top position came down to a three-set tilt between Stepanova and No. 98-ranked Lindsey Hodge. The Rice junior claimed the opening set, 6-3, before the Tribe answered with a 6-2 win in the second. The third-set super tiebreaker went back and forth, before Hodge edged Stepanova, 12-10.
 
The Tribe closes out the home portion of its schedule hosting instate foe Old Dominion on Saturday, April 8, as part of a men's and women's tennis doubleheader. The men host Middle Tennessee with both matches running concurrent to each other at the Millie West Tennis Facility, weather permitting. It will also be Senior Day for the Tribe women as the program will honor its lone senior Marie Faure. 
 
#47 Rice 6, #49 William & Mary 1
Singles
No. 1 – #98 Lindsey Hodge (Rice) def. Ekaterina Stepanova (W&M) – 6-3, 2-6, 12-10
No. 2 – #101 Katherine Ip (Rice) def. Marie Faure (W&M) – 6-0, 6-4
No. 3 – Wendy Zhang (Rice) def. Natalia Perry (W&M) – 6-1, 6-3
No. 4 – Rosie Cheng (W&M) def. Fernada Astete (Rice) – 6-1, 6-2
No. 5 – Savannah Durkin (Rice) def. Lauren Goodman (W&M) – 6-1, 6-4
No. 6 – Alison Ho (Rice) def. Olivia Thaler (W&M) – 6-1, 6-4
Finishing Order: 6, 4, 3, 2*, 5, 1
 
Doubles
No. 1 – #70 Hodge/Zhang (Rice) def. Faure/Goodman (W&M) – 7-6
No. 2 – Stepanova/Thaler (W&M) def. #79 Ho/Niezgoda (Rice) – 6-2
No. 3 – Ip/Durkin (Rice) def. Perry/Wuenscher (W&M) – 6-2
Finishing Order: 2, 3, 1*