HOUSTON, Texas – William & Mary women's tennis junior Clara Tanielian posted her sixth-straight singles win, but the No. 50-ranked Tribe fell at Rice, 6-1, on Friday afternoon. The Tribe dropped to 9-7 on the year, while the Owls improved to 9-6.
 
Tanielian won a three-setter at the No. 3 singles post, improving to a perfect 5-0 at the spot. She won the opening set in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (5), before Rice's Michaela Haet responded with a 6-4 triumph in the second. Tanielian, who improved to a team-best  19-10 in singles competition, rolled to a 10-4 victory in the third-set super tiebreaker to claim the Tribe's lone point.
 
The Owls, who own a victory over No. 34-ranked Texas A&M this season, squeezed out the doubles point with a narrow win at No. 2. After claiming a 6-2 triumph on the three line, the Rice duo of Priya Niezgoda and Fernanda Astete held off a Tribe rally from sophomore Natalia Perry and junior Lauren Goodman at No. 2 to pull out a 7-5 victory. On the top line, Tanielian and freshman Vitoria Okuyama turned in a strong performance, but their match against the No. 26-ranked team of Lindsey Hodge and Wendy Zhang was abandoned with the score even at six-all when the doubles point was clinched.
 
Rice won the other five singles matches in straight sets, reeling off victories at No. 2 and No. 4, before the clincher at No. 6 to end the thought of a Tribe comeback.
 
W&M continues its two-match swing in the Lone Star State when it meets No. 36-ranked Princeton on Saturday, March 24. The contest carries a 1 p.m. ET start time from the George R. Brown Tennis Center in Houston.
 
Rice 6, #50 William & Mary 1
Singles
No. 1 – Lindsey Hodge (Rice) def. #111 Rosie Cheng (W&M) – 7-5, 6-4  
No. 2 – #104 Wendy Zhang (Rice) def. Natalia Perry (W&M) – 6-4, 6-3
No. 3 – Clara Tanielian (W&M) def. Michaela Haet (Rice) – 7-6 (5), 4-6, 10-4
No. 4 – Anna Bowtell (Rice) def. Lauren Goodman (W&M) – 6-2, 6-3
No. 5 – Savannah Durkin (Rice) def. Ekaterina Stepanova (W&M) – 6-3, 7-6 (3)
No. 6 – Priya Niezgoda (Rice) def. Olivia Thaler (W&M) – 6-3, 7-5
Finishing Order: 4, 2, 6*, 1, 5, 3
 
Doubles
No. 1 – Tanielian/Okuyama (W&M) vs. #26 Hodge/Zhang (Rice) – DNF, 6-6
No. 2 – Astete/Niezgoda (Rice) def. Perry/Goodman (W&M) – 7-5
No. 3 – Durkin/Haet (Rice) def. Cheng/Thaler (W&M) – 6-2
Finishing Order: 3, 2*