The men’s tennis team had a triumphant weekend, facing three opponents and coming out on top in two of the three matches. With their season record standing at 4-5, the Tribe is now moving in the right direction toward the CAA Championships, where they have experienced much success in the past.
p. The College first took on no. 23 University of Michigan Friday at the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center, but fell to the nationally ranked team with a 6-1 final score. Michigan swept all three sets of doubles play, but senior Colin O’Brien and sophomore Alex Zuck put up a good fight against their no. 2 nationally ranked doubles opponent, only coming out 8-5 behind. Zuck was the only Tribe player to win his singles play, finishing up three sets 6-3, 6-7 (3), 1-0 (6) and saving the College from another shutout.
p. The first match Sunday was an upset against no. 74 Michigan State University, with the Tribe coming out with a 5-2 victory. O’Brien and Zuck were defeated by another ranked doubles team, but freshman Richard Wardell and sophomore Marwan Ramadan made up the only Tribe doubles team to clinch a win during doubles play, 8-5, giving Michigan State the early lead.
p. “I am proud of the way the guys competed,” Head Coach Peter Daub said. “We were as low as we could be after dropping the doubles point, but give the guys credit [for] bouncing back. We took a boxer’s punch and were flat on our backs, but it shows the character of our team to fight its way to a win against a solid Michigan State team.”
p. Five of the six singles matches went in the College’s favor, with the exception of Ramadan losing after a third-set tiebreaker. O’Brien clinched the victory over Michigan State when he defeated his opponent, ranked 51st in the country, for an upset win, 6-4, 7-5. The victory marked his fifth singles win over a ranked opponent this season.
p. Later that Sunday, the Tribe went up against CAA rival James Madison University and sent them home without a single point on the scoreboard, sweeping all the matches with a 7-0 final score.
The teams of O’Brien and Zuck, sophomore Kavi Sud and Ramadan and freshman Keziel Juneau and Wardell all took the wins in their doubles play, starting off the night with an early lead. In the singles play, not a single JMU opponent was allowed any more than four points per set, giving the College a decisive victory.
p. The upcoming matches for the Tribe will once again be hosted in Williamsburg at the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center Saturday, when the College takes on Norfolk State University at 9 a.m. and Longwood University at 6 p.m.
