**TRIBE 1, VCU 4 (CAA FINALS)**
Virginia Commonwealth University proved too much for the Tribe to handle as the College fell to no. 26 VCU 4-1 in the CAA finals, finishing the season at 16-13 in their first trip to the finals since 2005.
“I thought we played as hard as we could have,” Head Coach Peter Daub said. “They were a better team than we were. I didn’t think we lost the match, I thought VCU won the match.”
After the Tribe dropped early doubles break points, a comeback effort was thwarted by the number three VCU team as the Rams survived to take the vital doubles tally.
Senior Kavi Sud and freshman Sebastien Vidal found themselves in an early 0-3 hole before mounting a surge to pull within 5-6. The duo could not overtake the Rams, however, and succumbed to an 8-6 defeat. The College lost the doubles point as the no. 2 team of junior Marwan Ramadan and sophomore Keziel Juneau was outplayed 8-3.
“Everyone played well today,” senior Alex Cojanu said. “It was too bad we lost to a VCU team that was better than us today.”
No. 121 Cojanu was ahead 7-5, 2-3 when his match was suspended. The lone point for the Tribe came from the racket of Juneau, who outlasted Emil Lindgren 6-5 before his opponent retired.
**TRIBE 4, ODU 1 (CAA SEMIS)**
The College surged to an early lead in doubles before rallying in singles to overtake the Monarchs and advance to the CAA finals. Cojanu triumphed in both singles and doubles to lead the Tribe.
“I was happy seeing everyone step up their game,” Cojanu said. “It was especially huge for Sebastien [Vidal] to clinch it. All the guys played their hearts out.”
Cojanu’s serve, paired with junior Dominic Pagon’s consistent net play, allowed the duo to combine for their fifth win of the season in an 8-2 doubles display.
“We played very well,” Cojanu said. “We stuck to our basics and played solid and made good returns and serves.”
Sud and Vidal also garnered victory for the Tribe in an 8-2 showing while Ramadan and Juneau led 7-2 in their match before it was suspended.
The momentum did not initially seem to carry over into singles for the College as four of the six singles contests saw the Tribe lose its first set. Cojanu and Juneau both found victory in straight sets, yet it took a three-set thriller from Vidal to bring the College to a 4-1 victory.
“It took a little adjusting from doubles to singles [for Vidal],” Associate Head Coach Marcos Asse said. “The first set loss was more from his errors. He started to focus and take control of the match and executed the basics. I was a little nervous, but I knew he was going to come out on top.”
