The William and Mary men suffered a 5-2 loss against Elon Saturday, their first defeat in a Colonial Athletic Association matchup this season. Sunday, the College bounced back with a 6-1 win over Winthrop (0-5). On the women’s side, the Tribe extended its losing streak to three with losses to Wake Forest and N.C. State.
Elon (3-5, 1-0 CAA) secured all three doubles matches against the Tribe (4-4, 0-1 CAA) Saturday afternoon. Sophomore Tristan Bautil and senior Addison Appleby played a close match at the No. 2 doubles spot, eventually losing the match 7-6.
Senior Damon Niquet and sophomore Michael Ruamthong secured the College’s only two points in singles play. Both matches went into tie-breaker third sets. Niquet won at the No. 5 spot 6-3, 4-6, 7-5. Ruamthong took his win at the No. 6 6-4, 3-6, 6-1.
The top three spots all went into intense tie-breaker third sets. Senior Aidan Talcott struggled at the No. 1 spot before falling 6-4, 1-6, 6-2. Junior Christian Cargill’s battle at the No. 2 spot ended in a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 defeat. Appleby fought hard at the No. 3 spot, but fell 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Against Winthrop, Talcott, Cargill, Appleby, junior Alec Miller and Niquet all secured wins at the No. 1-5 singles spots. Talcott won his match at the No. 1 spot in a three-set match 7-6, 5-7, 10-3. Appleby also went into a three-set match at the No. 3 spot, winning 6-3, 6-7 (5), 11-9.
Niquet dominated both of his sets 6-1 and Miller conquered his match 6-2, 6-1. The Tribe took the first two doubles matches with the pair junior Ryan Newman and Talcott coming out on top 6-4, while duo Appleby and Bautil won 6-2. Cargill and Miller did not finish their match at the No. 3 doubles spot.
Groener, the star of the weekend, triumphed over nationally-ranked Amanda Rebol 6-4, 4-6, 10-7 at the No. 6 spot and earned the Tribe its only point against the Wolfpack.
On the women’s side, the Tribe (3-5, 1-0 CAA) suffered a 7-0 loss at Wake Forest (6-2) Saturday morning. Junior Maria Groener was the closest to securing a win in singles play at the No. 5 spot, going into a third set before ultimately losing the match 6-2, 6-7, 10-2.
Sunday, the Tribe suffered another harsh loss 1-6 on the road against N.C. State (8-2). Groener, the star of the weekend, triumphed over nationally-ranked Amanda Rebol 6-4, 4-6, 10-7 at the No. 6 spot and earned the Tribe its only point against the Wolfpack.
Freshman Natalia Perry and sophomore Lauren Goodman both went into third sets before being defeated by Wolfpack opponents. Perry fought hard at the No. 5 spot 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 and Goodman struggled 6-3, 4-6, 10-4.
The men will head back on the road to take on Illinois in Charlottesville Feb. 14. They will return home to welcome George Washington Feb. 17 at 4 p.m. and Depaul Feb. 19 at 11 a.m. to the McCormach-Nagelsen Tennis Center. The women will return home to take on Dartmouth Feb. 18 at noon.
