Tuesday, April 15, William and Mary men’s tennis (6-13, 2-5 CAA) concluded its regular season by defeating Richmond (9-8, 2-2 A10) 4-1 at the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center in Williamsburg, Va. The win snapped a five-match losing streak and marked the Tribe’s first victory since March 28. The Green and Gold has now won one of its last six matches and three of its last 15.
William and Mary head coach Jeff Kader attributed the Tribe’s victory to a marked increase in composure and execution.
“I think [the difference-maker] was a little bit of execution in bigger moments,” Kader said. “We had a few opportunities in the past few matches that just slipped through. [We] really put an emphasis on when we have one opportunity to maybe close out a game or close out the set, really trying to focus on staying present, staying in the moment, staying there for that one point, that one opportunity that you have. I think they did a much better job of that yesterday.”
Powered by successes on the second and third courts, the Tribe opened the afternoon by taking the doubles point for the second consecutive match.
“I think the team energy that we had coming out in doubles was a big thing,” Kader said. “We got off to a few early leads there in the doubles, which I think set the tone for how we were going to start the match, and then [we were] able to carry that on into singles. [We] started off pretty well in a few matches, and then [we] had to claw our way back into a couple, but I felt like once we found that rhythm and maybe pulled out a couple close games in there, the guys really started to loosen up a little bit, and we were able to put it away.”
On the No. 3 court, William and Mary sophomore Oliver Hague and junior Albert Hansen dealt Richmond junior Mark Taranov and sophomore Grant Cohen a 6-2 loss, giving the Tribe an early advantage. The victory moved Hague and Hansen to 4-4 on the dual season.
Senior Sean Joseph and freshman Gur Trakhtenberg proceeded to secure the doubles point for the Green and Gold, cruising past Richmond sophomore Paxton Pritchard and freshman Sam Rathmanner 6-1 on the second court. The win brought Joseph and Trakhtenberg to 9-3 in doubles on the season, a team-best.
The point having been decided, the first-court match between William and Mary sophomore Nikita Bortnichek and freshman Raz Katz and Richmond junior Davis Wiley and sophomore Cole Brashear was abandoned with the Tribe duo trailing 4-2.
As the singles portion of the match began, the scoreboard read 1-0 in favor of the Green and Gold. William and Mary was in a similar position after winning the doubles point against Drexel (10-6, 2-3 CAA) during an April 12 matchup, but fell apart in singles and eventually lost 4-3 to the Dragons. This time, the Tribe made no such mistake, claiming wins on the top three courts and cruising to a 4-1 victory.
“I think to say that [the Drexel game] wasn’t on our minds would be foolish,” Kader said. “However, [we] tried to put an emphasis on, ‘Okay, that match is behind us,’ and more so, ‘Let’s learn from that,’ as opposed to, ‘Let’s dwell on that.’ I think some of those same situations did come up yesterday, and I’m sure there were probably some thoughts to the match before, but that’s where I give the guys a lot of credit. They were able to overcome that and really try and put that last match in the past and focus on this one that was in front of us.”
“Again, being in that exact same situation, they got a different result,” Kader said. “[I’m] happy for them, proud of them to put themselves back into a winning position and then close it out.”
As the singles matches began, Richmond graduate student Zach Portnoy gave the Spiders a boost in momentum by convincingly defeating William and Mary senior Alexander Karman 6-0, 6-2 on the No. 6 court, but Hague and Bortnichek responded by dispatching their respective opponents. Hague swept past Pritchard 6-2, 6-2 on the second court, a win Kader said was only made possible once Hague found his rhythm.
“He got up an early break, got broken back pretty quickly in a tight game, but then was able to get a break right back again,” Kader said. “I think that break for him let him settle into the match a little bit, more saying, ‘Right, I’m comfortable here now. Let me just focus a little bit more on holding serve and what I need to do.’”
Bortnichek proceeded to overcome Richmond freshman Otto Sewell 7-5, 6-2 on the third court, a result Kader attributed to Bortnichek’s increased comfort as the match went on.
“I think he went down an early break and was trying to figure out the best way to play his opponent,” Kader said. “Once he settled down, and once he won two tight games in there, you could see him kind of loosen up a little bit. I think that’s honestly probably the biggest thing, when those guys loosen up and start playing their game.”
On the No. 1 court, Trakhtenberg clinched the match for the Tribe despite falling behind early. He managed to engineer a spirited comeback and beat Wiley 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 to claim his team-leading 17th singles win of the year. As in the cases of Hague and Bortnichek, Kader thought Trakhtenberg began playing well once he settled his nerves.
“Some of [his] errors were a little uncharacteristic,” Kader said. “Once Gur [Trakhtenberg] slowed down a little bit [and] got set, he came out with much more energy there in the second set. Got off to a quick start, which I think just eased his mind a little bit and allowed him to start playing his game. He’s played a lot of close matches, really, this entire year.”
“Once he won that second set and [went] into the third set, I was pretty comfortable with him,” Kader said. “He’s been in that situation and has come out on top a few different times throughout the year. I had a feeling like, ‘all right, he’s worked his way into the match.’”
With the Tribe having secured a victory, the fourth-court match between Hansen and Rathmanner and the fifth-court match between Joseph and Brashear went unfinished.
William and Mary now holds an all-time record of 18-0 against Richmond in a series that dates back to 2003, when Kader was playing for the Tribe. Kader emphasized his respect for the Spiders’ program and said the rivalry played somewhat of a factor in his team’s motivations, but he made it clear that William and Mary was primarily driven by the desire to end the regular season with a home victory.
“I think yesterday’s match was definitely a little bit of a pride match, kind of a character match, kind of, ‘what are we gonna bring to the table?’” Kader said. “I honestly don’t think it would’ve mattered if it was Richmond or someone else. [The] last regular season match on our home courts, I think they were just ready to go out there and show what they were capable of doing.”
“The fact that it was Richmond — it probably helped that there’s a little bit of that built-in rivalry there, just seeing them throughout the fall and then playing a lot of common opponents,” Kader said. “I think there was some of that went into it, but I think it was probably more of just really wanting to go out there and show[ing] what we can do.”
With the regular season concluded, William and Mary will now wait to see whether it qualifies for the Coastal Athletic Association Championship, which pits the league’s top six teams against each other. With a 6-13 overall record and a 2-5 conference record, the Tribe maintains a chance to advance but is uncertain of its fate. It will remain uncertain until the final standings are released Monday, April 21.
The conference tournament will be held from Friday, April 25, to Sunday, April 27, at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center in Elon, N.C. If the Tribe does not make the tournament, its season will be over.
