Saturday, April 18, William and Mary men’s tennis (10-13, 1-3 CAA) saw its season come to a close with a 4-0 defeat at the hands of No. 2 seed Elon (8-12) in the semifinals of the Coastal Athletic Association Championship at the Mackesy Tennis Center at the Millie West Courts in Williamsburg, Va.
Despite an impressive run to the final four, the Tribe failed to sustain its momentum against a sharp Elon team that advanced to the CAA Championship final.
The match began with doubles play, where Elon wasted no time in seizing control.
The Phoenix’s top pair edged William and Mary’s No. 1 duo of junior Oliver Hague and sophomore Gur Trakhtenberg in a tight 7-6 (7-2) tiebreak, then secured the doubles point outright with a 6-3 win over freshman Dylan Chou and senior Albert Hansen at No. 2. The No. 3 match, featuring junior Nikita Bortnichek and sophomore Theo Nilsson, was left unfinished, with Elon leading 6-5 as the doubles point had already been decided.
Elon carried that momentum directly into singles play, closing out the match in efficient fashion with three straight-set victories. At No. 1, senior Veljko Krstic was dominant against Trakhtenberg, winning 6-1, 6-2 to give the Phoenix an immediate advantage. At No. 6, sophomore Charles Pilet dispatched Hansen 6-3, 6-1. Sophomore Rafael Ymer secured the victory for Elon with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Hague at No. 2, sealing the 4-0 result. Three additional singles matches at No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 were left unfinished at the time of the clinch.
For Tribe head coach Jeff Kader, the challenge at hand came to no surprise.
“We played them earlier on in the year and thought that they were really solid,” he said. “They matched up really, really well with us, so we knew that it was going to be tough.”
Kader also saw his team’s inability to close out the doubles point as a crucial moment in the match, giving Elon an early lead.
“We had some leads in doubles. And I think to start off the match, having those leads and not capitalizing on them, that was probably the biggest thing,” Kader said. “We talk about in sports all the time how momentum can kind of change the outcome of matches.”
Despite the loss, Kader expressed nothing but admiration for the team.
“We got a little unfortunate with some injuries. There was about a five-week span where we didn’t have what ended up being our full lineup,” Kader said. “There were a couple of times where it looked like we might not even make the conference tournament. Even heading into that last weekend, things were a bit up in the air.”
Kader said he was especially proud of the way his team persevered through these setbacks.
“They competed hard and showed a great bounce-back mentality,” he said. “As a coach, that’s the biggest thing you want to see … no quit in the team.”
With the result, William and Mary closed out the 2026 season at 10-13 overall, finishing with a strong-stretch run that saw the Tribe win three of its final four matches. That run included a historic 4-0 quarterfinal victory over No. 3 seed Campbell on Friday, April 17, the program’s first-ever CAA tournament win.
Sunday, April 19, William and Mary women’s tennis (14-7, 6-1 CAA) saw its season come to a heartbreaking close, falling to top-seeded Elon (16-4, 4-3 CAA) in the CAA Championship at the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center in Williamsburg. Tied at 3-3, the match hinged on the final court, where the Tribe’s push for an 11th consecutive CAA title game appearance fell short by one win.
The match opened with doubles. The Phoenix secured victories at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles, with the No. 2 match left unfinished. Despite a strong showing from freshman Alexia Gonzalez-Galino and sophomore Mira Kernagis, Elon clinched the doubles point through wins at the top and bottom courts.
William and Mary responded with an elevated performance in singles play, winning three matches to level the score at 3-3 and set up a dramatic finish. Kernagis was the first to deliver for the Tribe, posting a dominant 6-1, 6-0 victory over junior Alexis Nyborg at No. 4 singles. Gonzalez-Galino followed with an equally commanding 6-0, 6-2 win over senior Madison Cordisco at No. 6.
The pivotal contribution came from Tribe junior Francesca Davis at No. 2 singles, who rallied from a first-set loss to defeat junior Simone Bergeron in a three-set thriller (6-3, 6-4, 6-4). Davis’ gritty comeback leveled the match at 3-3, setting the stage for the deciding court.
Elon, however, countered with wins at No. 1 and No. 3 singles, as sophomore Cornelia Kack defeated senior Sia Chaudry and junior Mariana Reding topped freshman Tilda Larsson.
With the match on the line at No. 5 singles, freshman Rebeka Svabikova faced off against Elon sophomore Lisa Kranec in a grueling back-and-forth battle. Svabikova split the first two sets with Kranec before the Elon standout pulled away in the third-set tiebreak to clinch the title. The Tribe’s 4-3 defeat mirrored an earlier meeting between the two teams this season.
Despite the loss, the Tribe closed out another impressive campaign, finishing 14-7 overall and 6-1 in conference play as CAA runner-up. This spring marked the Tribe’s sixth consecutive CAA regular season title contention finish, extending the team’s streak of 11 straight championship match appearances.
“Obviously, it was disappointing not to be able to bring home the championship, but I am extremely proud of how the girls competed on Sunday and throughout the tournament,” head coach Jessica Giuggioli said. “We came up short on Sunday, but I do think that everyone competed till the end. We will learn from it and have more experiences going to it next year.”
