Tennis: No. 74 Tribe wins again, men split

William and Mary’s men’s tennis team lost 5-2 to Brown and won 7-0 against Morgan State in a double-header Saturday in Williamsburg, Va.

The College (6-3, 0-0 CAA) lost to Brown for the first time in six all-time meetings. The teams last met in 2008, when the Tribe won 4-3 in Providence. The College has never lost to Morgan State, and Saturday was no exception; the College now boasts a 5-0 series record against the Bears following the shutout win.

On the women’s side, the No. 74 College (5-1, 0-0 CAA) won 5-2 against No. 63 Maryland at home Sunday. Maryland was the Tribe’s second nationally ranked opponent this weekend. The teams last met in 2012, when Maryland recorded a 5-2 victory. Following Sunday’s win, the Tribe leads the series 26-5 overall and is 13-1 at home.

The men’s team began Saturday with a tough loss to Brown. Senior Will Juggins and freshman Christian Cargill won both their matches at the No. 1 doubles spot Saturday, winning 6-1 against Brown and 6-4 against Morgan State to record their eighth-straight doubles win. But sophomore duo Damon Niquet and Addison Appleby posted their first career loss as a pair in their match against Brown, losing 6-2 in the No. 3 spot. The College finished 1-2 in doubles play to fall behind Brown, 1-0. Cargill and freshman Lars de Boer picked up the Tribe’s only singles wins en route to the 5-2 defeat.

On the women’s side, the No. 74 College (5-1, 0-0 CAA) won 5-2 against No. 63 Maryland at home Sunday. Maryland was the Tribe’s second nationally ranked opponent this weekend.

Against Morgan State, however, the Tribe swept the field, winning all six singles matches and all three doubles matches. Playing at No. 6, senior Aaron Chaffee recorded the most commanding victory of the day, winning 6-0, 6-0 against MSU’s Sagar Sathyanarayanan. De Boer took his singles match to a third-set tiebreaker, pulling off the win with a 10-6 final set.

Appleby, de Boer and Cargill all played four matches Saturday. De Boer went 2-0 in singles and 1-1 in doubles, playing in the No. 4 and No. 2 spots in singles and the No. 2 and No. 3 spots in doubles. Appleby went 1-1 in singles and 1-1 in doubles, slotting in at No. 5 and No. 3 in singles and No. 3 and No. 2 in doubles. Cargill played in the No. 1 spot for singles and doubles against both Brown and MSU, winning all four matches.

Next up for the Tribe men are two road matches Friday and Saturday against Princeton and Pennsylvania.

On the women’s side against No. 63 Maryland, junior Leeza Nemchinov, senior Jeltje Loomans, freshman Olivia Thaler and freshman Maria Groener won their singles matches at the No. 1, No. 2, No. 4 and No. 5 positions. Groener pulled off the most commanding victory with a score of 6-3, 6-3; Loomans also won in straight sets. With the win, Nemchinov moves to a 5-0 record for the year at the No. 1 singles position. She is 13-2 overall at No. 1.

The No. 74 College won on the doubles side at both No. 1 and No. 2; the No. 3 match did not finish. Junior Julia Casselbury and sophomore Mélanie Roy, paired at No. 2, won 6-2 to carry their third win this season as a duo. This was their first victory against a nationally ranked opponent at the No. 2 spot. All told, the Tribe secured the doubles point and went 4-2 in singles play to take the 5-2 win.

After a two-week hiatus, the No 74 women face No. 24 Mississippi Feb. 15 in Oxford, Miss. and No. 58 Memphis Feb. 16 in Memphis, Tenn.

Flat Hat photographer Alison Cohen shot Sunday’s win over No. 63 Maryland. ALISON COHEN / THE FLAT HAT

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