WILLIAMSURG, Va. – The William & Mary women's tennis team opens up a five-match road swing with a pair of contests against top-50 opponent this weekend. The Tribe heads to Princeton, N.J., to take on No. 42 Rice on Saturday, March 23 at 1 p.m., before squaring off with No. 49-ranked Princeton on Sunday, March 24, at 11 a.m.
 
Scouting the Tribe
- W&M improved to 2-0 in CAA play with a convincing 7-0 win over Delaware on Saturday. The Tribe won its 12th straight against a CAA opponent. W&M, which is 5-9 overall, dropped six total games in doubles and won all six singles matches in straight sets.
- Junior Rosie Cheng, who missed the previous three matches due to injury, returned to the lineup against the Blue Hens and dominated in a 6-0, 6-1 win over Caragh Courtney at the No. 2 spot.
- Junior Natalia Perry won her second-straight match at No. 1 against the Blue Hens. She was named the CAA Player of the Week on March 13 after upsetting No. 101-ranked Natalie Novotna of Virginia Tech. Perry ranks second on the team with 12 singles wins, including six in dual-match play at the top two spots.
- Perry and freshman Mila Saric earned CAA Doubles Team of the Week honors on March 13 for the second time this season. The duo is a team-best 9-3 in doubles action, including a 4-1 ledger at No. 2.
- On March 7, Saric was named the CAA Player of the Week for the second time this season. She clinched W&M's 4-2 win over Big Ten foe Maryland. Saric, who leads W&M with a 13-8 singles record and a 9-3 dual-match mark, also earned the honor on Feb. 13.
- Senior Clara Tanielian and sophomore Vitoria Okuyama have been exceptional in doubles action, going 6-1 overall with five wins at No. 1 The duo garnered the CAA Doubles Team of the Week honors on Feb. 27 after clinching the initial point of the match against both the Terrapins and Memphis.
- W&M has captured the doubles point in nine of its 14 matches, including five of the last six contests.
- Three of the Tribe's setbacks this season have come to top-50 opponents, including losses to current No. 17 Wake Forest, No. 22 Virginia and No. 36 Kansas State. In total, W&M played six major conference opponents, including a trio of ACC foes.
- W&M's remaining 2019 schedule includes three more matches against top-50 teams. The Tribe takes on both No. 42 Rice and No. 49 Princeton this weekend in New Jersey. The Green and Gold hosts current No. 28 Old Dominion on April 13.
 
Scouting Princeton
- Princeton, which opens the weekend against Rice at home on Friday, had its four-match win streak snapped on Monday, falling at FAU, 4-2. The Tigers are currently ranked No. 49 nationally and sit at 9-4 on the year.
- Half of Princeton's losses have come to national top-10 teams in Stanford and North Carolina.
- The Tigers advanced to the finals of the ECAC Championship with wins over Cornell and Brown before falling to Columbia, 4-1.
- W&M and Princeton have one common opponent in Maryland. The Tribe and Tigers both notched 4-3 wins at the Terrapins.
- As a team, Princeton is 40-27 as a team in dual-match singles competition.
- The Tigers have captured the doubles points on eight occasions this season, including six of the last eight matches.
- Stephanie Schrage is 6-5 at No. 1 singles for PU, while Brianna Shvets owns a 14-5 overall mark and an 8-3 ledger at the No. 1 and No. 2 singles posts.
- Grace Joyce leads the Tigers at 22-5 on the year including a 10-2 in dual-match mark.
- Joyce and Clare McKee are 8-4 in doubles, including a 6-4 mark in dual-match play at No. 1 and No. 2.
- Nathalie Rodilosso and Schrage own a 10-2 doubles record, including an 8-1 dual-match mark with a 5-0 ledger at No. 2.
 
Series History: W&M vs. Princeton
- The Tribe and Tigers meet for the second-straight season after the Green and Gold notched a 5-2 win in Houston, Texas.
- Last season, W&M won five of the six singles matches to claim the win, including victories from Rosie Cheng, Natalia Perry and Clara Tanielian at the top three spots.
- The Tigers leads the all-time series at 9-8, but it is even at 4-4 at Princeton.
- Princeton won the first six meetings is the series, before W&M tallied seven victories in a row.
- The Tigers won the last meeting in Princeton by a 5-2 score in 2010.
 
Scouting Rice
- Rice, which takes on Princeton on Friday before facing the Tribe on Saturday, is 9-6 on the year and currently ranked No. 42 nationally.
- Five of the Owls' six losses have come to teams in the national top 30, including setbacks to No. 7 Pepperdine, No. 16 Kansas, No. 18 Texas, No. 21 LSU, and No. 27 Texas Tech.
- Rice is coming off back-to-back home wins over Dartmouth, 6-1, and Johns Hopkins, 7-0.
- Included in its haul of wins, the Owls owns victories over No. 33 Kansas State and No. 45 Denver.
- Michaela Haet is ranked No. 95 nationally in singles.
- Victoria Smirnova leads the Owls with a 18-8 singles record, including a 10-4 mark in duals between No. 1 and No. 2.
- In doubles, Priya Niezgoda and Anastasia Smirnova are ranked No. 57 nationally. The duo is 14-5 on the year, including a 11-3 ledger in dual-match competition. They are 3-1 at No. 1.
- Haet and Linda Hunag are ranked No. 52 nationally in doubles.
 
Series History: W&M vs. Rice
- Rice leads the all-time series with W&M at 5-4, following last year's 6-1 win in Houston.
- The teams meet for the seventh year in a row.
- W&M leads the series at neutral sites at 2-0, including a 5-2 win in New Haven, Conn., in 2016.
 
Up Next
- The Tribe continues its road swing at VCU on Saturday, March 30. The match carries a 1 p.m. start time from the Thalhimer Tennis Center in Richmond.