William and Mary fell to No. 42 Rice Saturday, Mar. 23, losing by a definitive 6-1 margin.
The Owls began the day by capturing the doubles point, with wins in the No. 2 and No. 3 spots, first trouncing senior Lauren Goodman and junior Charlotte Madson 6-2 before moving on to defeat freshman Mila Saric and junior Natalia Perry by a slightly smaller 6-4 margin. The loss marked the end of a two-match win streak for the Perry and Saric duo.
The Owls continued to dominate in the singles matches, besting Perry 6-3, 6-3 in the No. 1 spot, and senior Clara Tanielian in two sets with a score of 6-3, 6-1 in the No. 3 spots. Shortly after, junior Rosie Cheng fell in three sets in the No. 2 spot, and the Owls took a 4-0 lead for the day.
Despite showing signs of life in the bottom three singles matches, the Tribe failed to rally enough energy to claim a victory in the No. 4 and 5 spots, although all three matches began with a tie in the first set.
The only bright spot of the competition came as the day was drawing to a close. With the Owls up 6-0, Madson earned a three-set victory giving the College its only point of the day. Madson’s win was her ninth of the season as well as her third straight, providing a glimmer of hope for the postseason.
The Tribe will conclude this road trip by facing 49th-ranked Princeton Sun. Mar. 24, its second straight top-50 opponent on the road. All eyes will be on veterans Goodman, Cheng, and Madson to lend some composure to the squad headed into the final stretch.
