WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The No. 50-ranked William & Mary women's tennis team travels to the Lone Star State for a pair of matches this weekend. The Green and Gold squares off with host Rice on Friday, March 23, before taking on No. 36-ranked Princeton on Saturday, March 24. Both matches carry 1 p.m. ET start times from the George R. Brown Tennis Center in Houston, Texas.
 
Scouting the Tribe
Winners in four of its last five matches, the Tribe made an appearance in the national top 50 for the third time in four weeks on Tuesday. The Green and Gold, which is 9-6 on the year, came in at No. 50 followings its 6-1 win over Yale on March 16. During its current stretch, the Tribe owns wins over Richmond, Georgetown and George Washington. In its victory over the Bulldogs, W&M captured the doubles point for the fourth time in the last five matches thanks to wins at No. 2 (junior Lauren Goodman and sophomore Natalia Perry) and No. 3 (sophomore Rosie Cheng and senior Olivia Thaler). In singles, Perry (No. 2), Goodman (No. 4) and Thaler (No. 6) posted wins along with junior Clara Tanielian (No. 3) and senior Ekaterina Stepanova (No. 5).  Thaler continues to lead the Green and Gold with a 19-9 singles ledger, while Goodman tops the program at 10-5 in dual-match play. Both Perry and Tanielian, who is riding a five-match win streak, own 18 singles wins on the year. Cheng garnered a national singles ranking for the fourth-straight week coming in at No. 111 on Tuesday. In doubles, Perry and Goodman have won four in a row at the No. 2 spot. All six of W&M's losses in 2018 have come to teams in the national top 40, including No. 1 North Carolina, No. 7 Illinois, No. 17 Kansas, No. 22 Oregon, No. 31 Kansas State, and No. 37 Tennessee. The Green and Gold has four of its remaining eight matches against nationally-ranked competition, including dates with No. 14 Wake Forest (April 2), No. 21 Virginia (March 29), No. 36 Princeton (March 24), and No. 44 Old Dominion (April 13). The Tribe has already seen its Saturday opponent, Princeton, during the fall season. The Green and Gold took six of seven singles matches and two of three in doubles against the Tigers at the June Stewart Invitational in Nashville, Tenn., in October.
 
Scouting Rice
Rice enters the weekend at 8-6 on the year following back-to-back wins at Colorado and over UT Rio Grande Valley. The Owls own a victory over current No. 34 Texas A&M earlier this season and knocked off a common opponent to the Tribe in Maryland at the ITA Kickoff Weekend at Pepperdine. Rice has suffered nationally-ranked setbacks to current No. 16 Texas Tech, No. 22 Oregon, No. 28 Baylor and No. 40 LSU. The Owls, which are 5-2 at home this season, have been ranked as high as No. 39 nationally this season on Feb. 20. Wendy Zhang and Lindsey Hodge hold down the top of the lineup in both singles and doubles. Zhang is 13-8 overall on the year and currently ranked No. 104 nationally, while Hodge is a three time All-Conference USA selection, including first-team honors in 2016 and 2017. Combined they are ranked No. 26 nationally in doubles, sporting an overall record of 16-5 with a 9-3 mark at No. 1.
 
Series History: W&M vs. Rice
The Tribe and Owls are tied in the all-time series at four apiece. The teams meet for the sixth year in a row and the third time in Houston during that stretch. Last season, Rice downed the Tribe, 6-1, in Williamsburg. W&M last won 5-2 over the Owls in New Haven, Conn., during the 2016 season. Rice claimed the previous two meetings in Houston by matching 5-2 scores.
 
Scouting Princeton
Princeton is currently ranked No. 36 nationally and sports an impressive 12-1 record. The Tigers downed UT Arlington, 4-1, in its first match in the Lone Star State on Wednesday. Included in Princeton's haul of wins is a 4-2 upset of then-No. 12 and current No. 15-ranked Auburn on Feb. 4. The Tigers also won the ECAC Indoor Championship with victories over Harvard, Brown and Dartmouth, to go along with four wins over Big Ten programs in Penn State, Maryland, Indiana, and Rutgers. Princeton has been ranked as high as No. 25 nationally this season on Feb. 20 and its lone loss came to current No. 20 Kentucky, 4-3. As a team, the Tigers are 51-11 in dual-match singles play and 25-5 in doubles. Katrine Steffensen and Stephanie Schrage lead the way for the Tigers at the No. 1 and No. 2 singles positions, respectively. Steffensen is 16-8 overall and 9-0 at the top spot, while sporting a national ranking of No. 121. Schrage is ranked No. 123 in the country with a singles ledger of 17-8 overall and 9-2 at No. 2. In doubles, Schrage and Nicole Kalhorn are 12-3 overall and 8-2 at the top spot. The duo is ranked No. 79 nationally.
 
Series History: W&M vs. Princeton
The Tribe and Tigers meet for the first time since 2011. Princeton leads the all-time series at 9-7 and has won each of the last three meetings. The Tigers won the first six meetings is the series, before W&M tallied seven victories in a row. Saturday will be the first meeting between the teams at a neutral site.
 
Up Next
W&M travels to Charlottesville to face its third ACC opponent of the season in No. 29-ranked Virginia on Thursday, March 29. The contest carries a 3:30 p.m. start time at the Sheridan Snyder Tennis Center. The Tribe is 1-1 against the ACC this season with a setback to No. 1 North Carolina and a victory over Boston College.