Minneapolis, Minn. - The No. 50-ranked William and Mary women's tennis team came up on the short end of a tight 4-3 tilt with No. 28 Washington on Saturday afternoon at the Baseline Tennis Center. The Tribe took early lead by claiming the doubles points, but with the match tied at two, the Huskies won two of three three-set matches to clinch the narrow victory. Washington improves to 2-1 on the year, while the Green and Gold falls to 0-5.

W&M changed up the doubles rotation and with great success, winning at the top two spots to take the opening point of the match. The Tribe's No. 1 duo of sophomores Jeltje Loomans and Maria Belaya remained in tack and continued its winning ways. The Green and Gold pair downed Denise Dy and Samantha Smith, 8-5, for its third straight victory in improving to 10-5 on the year. Playing together for the first time in dual-match play, W&M's No. 2 junior tandem of Anik Cepeda and Marlen Mesgarzadeh also claimed an 8-5 win, downing Capucine Gregoire and Andjela Nemceivc to give the College a 1-0 advantage.

Washington won at the top two singles positions in straight sets, while the Tribe countered with a Cepeda straight-set win at the No. 4 slot. The Tribe junior upended Natali Coronel, 6-2, 6-4, for her second win of the season. With the match even at two, the balance of the tilt came down to three-set affairs at the No. 3, No. 4 and No. 6 spots.

Senior Katie Kargl notched her seventh win of the season at the No. 6 spot for the Green and Gold. She claimed the opening set, 6-4, before Washington Julija Lukac, who was perfect 2-0 in dual matches entering Saturday, battled back with a victory in the second, 6-1, The decisive third set came down to a tiebreaker, where the Tribe senior used her experience to outlast Lukas, 7-6 (6).

Kargl's three-set win at the sixth post would not be enough though as Washington won three-set matches at No. 3 and No. 4 to clinched the team triumph. After recording her first win of the dual-match season against Minnesota on Friday night, sophomore Hope Johnson fought back from a set deficit, 0-6, to take the second set, 7-5, from Washington's Capucine Gregoire, before the Husky player recorded a 6-2 win in the third. At the No. 3 position, Belaya saw her two-match win streak halted by Andjela Nemcevic. After the Washington player took the opening set, 6-4, Belaya rallied with a 6-3 triumph in the second. Nemcevic claimed the three-set win, taking the final set, 6-2.

After a two-week break, the Tribe will return to action with its first home match of the dual season on Sunday, Feb. 19, against No. 40 Maryland. The match is slated for a 1 p.m. start time at the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center.

#28 Washington 4, #50 William and Mary 3
Singles
No. 1 - #10 Denise Dy (UW) def. Jeltje Loomans (W&M) - 6-0, 6-0
No. 2 - Samantha Smith (UW) def. Marlen Mesgarzadeh (W&M) - 7-5, 6-3
No. 3 - Andjela Nemcevic (UW) def. Maria Belaya (W&M) - 6-4, 3-6, 6-2
No. 4 -Capucine Gregoire (UW) def. Hope Johnson (W&M) - 6-0, 5-7, 6-2
No. 5 - Anik Cepeda (W&M) def. Natali Coronel (UW) - 6-2, 6-4
No. 6 - Katie Kargl (W&M) def. Julija Lukac (UW) - 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (6)

Doubles
No. 1 - Loomans/Belaya (W&M) def. Dy/Smith (UW) - 8-5
No. 2 - Cepeda/Mesgarzadeh (W&M) def. Gregoire/Nemcevic (UW) - 8-5
No. 3 - Coronel/Shimizu (UW) def. Johnson/Kargl (W&M) - 9-7