WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - The William and Mary men's tennis team jumped out to an early lead over No. 55-ranked Princeton, but could not hold off the Tigers in dropping a narrow 4-3 decision at the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center on Friday night. W&M took the doubles point and senior Ben Guthrie increased the lead to 2-0 with a convincing singles victory, before the visitors won four straight singles matches to claim its first win of the season. W&M fell to 2-5 on the year with the setback.

The Tribe opened the match by taking the doubles point with victories at the top two positions. Juniors Will Juggins and Aaron Chaffee continued their dominating play at the No. 1 post, rolling to a 6-2 win over Zach McCourt and Alexander Day. It marked the duo's fourth-straight win as it improved to 5-1 in dual-match play at No. 1. Guthrie and freshman Damon Niquet clinched the 1-0 Tribe advantage, downing Augie Bloom and Dan Davies at the No. 2 spot. The pair upped its season mark to 6-3 with its first dual-match win.

Guthrie wasted little time pushing the Green and Gold lead to 2-0 with a dominating effort at the No. 2 singles position. The Tribe senior routed Thomas Colautti dropping just two games in a 6-1, 6-1 triumph for his second straight win. Guthrie upped his season mark to 7-4 overall and 3-2 in dual-match competition at No. 2.

Princeton though responded with four straight singles wins at the No. 1, No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 positions to pull out the team triumph. Senior John Banks closed out the match, winning the No. 6 post for the Green and Gold. Banks bounced Princeton's Dan Davies, 6-5 (4), 6-4, for his 50th career victory. He upped his season win total to seven and improved to 3-3 in dual-match play.

The Green and Gold returns to action with three matches over the weekend at the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center. W&M hosts six-time defending MEAC Champion South Carolina State on Saturday, Feb. 1, at 10 a.m., before hosting a Sunday doubleheader. The Tribe faces Temple at 9 a.m., and then Howard at 2 p.m. Live stats for all three matches will be available at TribeAthletics.com.

No. 1 –  #119 Zack McCourt (PU) def. Ben Hoogland (W&M) – 6-3, 6-4

No. 2 – Ben Guthrie (W&M) def. Thomas Colautti (PU) – 6-1, 6-1

No. 3 – Alexander Day (PU) def. Aaron Chaffee (W&M) – 6-2, 6-4

No. 4 – Joshua Yablon (PU) def. Damon Niquet (W&M) – 6-4, 6-1

No. 5 – Augie Bloom (PU) def. Addison Appleby (W&M) – 6-3, 6-4

No. 6 – John Banks (W&M) def. Dan Davies (PU) – 6-5 (4), 6-4

Finishing Order: 2, 3, 1, 5, 4*, 6

No. 1 – Juggins/Chaffee (W&M) def. McCourt/Day (PU) – 6-2

No. 2 – Guthrie/Niquet (W&M) def. Davies/Bloom (PU) – 6-4

No. 3 – Colautti/Yablon (PU) def. Hoogland/Banks (W&M) – 6-5 (7)

Finishing Order: 1, 2*, 3