William and Mary men’s tennis (5-8, 2-2 CAA) split a pair of conference matches over the weekend, defeating Campbell (6-11, 0-3 CAA) 4-3 on the road before falling 5-2 at Elon (7-6, 1-0 CAA). The Tribe, which lost seven consecutive matches from Feb. 21 to March 17, has now emerged victorious in two of its last three outings.
Friday, March 28, the Green and Gold knocked off Campbell at the Nisbet Tennis Center in Buies Creek, N.C. The Tribe started the day with a convincing doubles win on the second court. Senior Sean Joseph and freshman Gur Trakhtenberg beat Campbell freshman Alex Fragasso and Campbell sophomore Luke Tollenaar 6-2. Although Joseph and Trakhtenberg lost the first two matches they played together this season, the win over Fragasso and Tollenaar marked their fifth consecutive victory.
The Tribe continued its hot start on the third court, where sophomore Oliver Hague and junior Albert Hansen scored their first-ever win as a duo after they took down Campbell freshmen Adi Dagan and Aleksandar Hudjec 6-4. With the Green and Gold having clinched the doubles point, the first court match between William and Mary sophomore Nikita Bortnichek and freshman Raz Katz and Campbell junior Thomas Drapeau and sophomore Matias Lofink was left unfinished.
The doubles point ultimately proved crucial in determining the winner of the match, as the singles portion of the dual was hotly contested. The Camels won the first two singles points of the afternoon in straight sets: Drapeau defeated Trakhtenberg 6-3, 6-4 on the first court, and Fragasso got the better of Hansen 6-2, 6-3 on the fourth court. It was only Trakhtenberg’s second first-court dual loss of the season, while Hansen fell 7-12 overall and 2-6 on court four.
With the Green and Gold finding itself down 2-0, it was up to the players on the higher-numbered courts to spark a William and Mary comeback. Katz did just that, taking down Lofink 6-3, 6-3 on the sixth court before Joseph scored a 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 fifth-court victory over Hudjec. It was both players’ 11th singles win of the season, putting them in a tie for third most on the team.
After Tollenaar beat Hague 3-6, 6-3, 6-1, the match came down to Bortnichek versus Dagan on the third court, with the score even at 3-3. Dagan took the first set 6-3 and took the second set to tiebreakers, putting the Camels within sight of the finish line, but Bortnichek rescued the Tribe from the jaws of defeat by pulling out a 7-5 set win. He went on to defeat Dagan 6-2 in the final set, securing a 4-3 William and Mary victory.
Sunday, March 30, the Tribe’s two-match winning streak was snapped against Elon at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center in Elon, N.C. The duo of Joseph and Trakhtenberg again opened the contest for William and Mary, but they were unable to replicate the success they found against Campbell. Elon sophomore Jack Curtis and Elon freshman Rafael Ymer snapped their opponents’ five-match winning streak, defeating them 6-3.
Nevertheless, the Green and Gold battled back to take the doubles point. Hague and Hansen extended their winning streak to two, defeating Elon freshman Charles Pilet and Elon senior Juan Sengariz 6-4 on the second court. Katz and Bortnichek improved their season record to 3-7 with a highly competitive 7-5 victory over Elon juniors Veljko Krstic and Oskar Antinheimo on court one.
However, William and Mary was not able to overcome a sluggish start to the singles portion of the day. Of the Green and Gold’s six competitors, all but Hague lost their opening sets, a setback that significantly hurt the Tribe’s chances at a match victory.
Krstic dispatched Trakhtenberg 6-3, 6-2 on the first court, handing the freshman his second consecutive singles loss and dropping his team-leading singles record to 15-10. Antinheimo beat Bortnichek 6-2, 6-1 on the third court, Sengariz beat Katz 6-4, 6-1 on the sixth court and Curtis beat Hansen 6-2, 6-4 on the fourth court, giving the Phoenix the four points required for a win. Despite taking an early lead, Hague lost to Ymer 3-6, 6-4, 0-1 (8) on the second court.
Joseph scratched out a 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (4) fifth-court win over Pilet, but his efforts didn’t prove to be enough. William and Mary lost the singles portion of the event 5-1 and the overall event 5-2.
The Tribe will return to play Saturday, April 5, when it takes on Delaware (11-5, 2-0 CAA) at the Mackesy Tennis Center at the Millie West Courts in Williamsburg, Va.
