WILLIAMSBURG, Virginia - No. 53 William & Mary won the doubles point and then claimed three singles matches to squeeze past UNCW, 4-3, in Colonial Athletic Association women's tennis late Saturday at the MaCormick-Nagelsen Tennis Center.

The Tribe improved to 5-2 on the season after winning its CAA opener. The Seahawks are 1-1 overall and in the conference following two narrow matches during a season-opening trip to Virginia.

"I' m extremely proud of the way the team competed today, especially after the day we had yesterday," said first-year Head Coach Evan Clark, whose club outlasted James Madison, 4-3, on Saturday. "We are not happy with the result, but the experience we gained this first weekend will help us tremendously throughout the year and as we make the push at tournament time.

"We will take the positives and negatives from the weekend and continue to work hard on and off the court. We are really excited about the rest of the year."

The third-ranked tandem of Maria Belaya and Jeltje Loomans set the tone early for the Tribe with an 8-2 doubles victory over Angie Sekely and Olga Blank at the top of the lineup. W&M then captured the doubles point when the No. 3 team of Anik Cepeda and Sydney Smith defeated Christine Kharkevich and Alyssa Ritchie, 8-4.

UNCW recorded victories at No. 1, No. 5 and No. 6 to split the singles matches. Sekely outlasted Belaya, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 1-0 (10-8), at No. 1 and Kelly Cameron cruised past Cepeda, 6-4, 6-3, at the No. 5 slot. Kharkevich picked up UNCW's third singles win with her first collegiate victory with a 6-1, 4-6, 1-0 (10-1) nailbiter over Smith at No. 6.

The Seahawks return to Wilmington for practice in preparation for their next match on Feb. 13 at Coastal Carolina. UNCW makes its home debut on Feb. 16 when Campbell visits for a 1:30 p.m. match.