William and Mary split four matches over the weekend, with the men and women each posting a 1-1 record.
On the women’s side, the Tribe downed Richmond and lost to No. 2 Duke. In the season opener against the University of Richmond at home, the College won 6-1, improving its series record against the Spiders to 42-0.
The Tribe decisively won all six singles matches en route to a commanding victory over Richmond. Junior Leeza Nemchinov, senior Jeltje Loomans and freshman Maria Groener only dropped two games apiece in victories at the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 4 spots.
Freshmen Olivia Thaler and Groener, playing at No. 3, secured the College’s only victory on the doubles side. Playing at No. 1, Loomans and Nemchinov lost 7-5 while sophomore Melanie Roy and junior Julia Casselbury lost 6-3.
Sunday at home, the Tribe showed its strength in a close 4-3 loss to No. 2 Duke. The doubles teams of Loomans and Nemchinov and Thaler and Groener both won at the No. 1 and No. 3 spots as the College took the doubles point.
Nemchinov, at the No.1 spot, and Groener, at the No. 5 spot, posted the Tribe’s only singles victories. Thaler and freshman Cecily Wuenscher dropped close three-set battles.
The Tribe next faces Morgan State at home Friday. The match is set for 1 p.m.
On the men’s side, the College lost 5-2 to No. 29 Harvard in Cambridge Saturday. In singles play, sophomore Damon Niquet and freshman Alec Miller, playing at the No. 4 and No. 6 spots, posted the Tribe’s only two victories.
Sophomore duo Addison Appleby and Niquet continued their perfect streak, winning 6-3 in the No. 3 spot for an undefeated career record of 7-0. Theirs was the only victory on the doubles side; senior Aaron Chaffee and freshman Christian Cargill lost decisively in the No. 1 spot, as did senior Will Juggins and junior Scott Huang in the No. 2 spot.
Sunday, the Tribe won 6-1 against Boston College in Cambridge. In singles, the College won five of six singles matches; Miller lost at the No. 5 spot but forced his opponent to eighteen games in the third set. The Tribe swept doubles play as Appleby and Niquet remained undefeated. Cargill, Juggins, Niquet and Huang played in both singles and doubles, winning both times.
The College faces South Carolina State Saturday at 10 a.m.
