WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - After playing its first four matches on the road, the William and Mary men's tennis team kicks off a five-match homestand with a Saturday, Jan. 24, doubleheader. It will be the first of six double dips for W&M this season. The Tribe hosts defending MEAC Champion South Carolina State at 10 a.m. to start the doubleheader, before welcoming Howard to the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center at 4 p.m. It marks the second straight season in which W&M has played both teams.

The Tribe improved to 2-2 on the year with a 6-1 win over ACC foe Boston College in its last outing. Against the Eagles, W&M swept doubles, before freshman Christian Cargill (No. 1), senior Will Juggins (No. 2), sophomore Damon Niquet (No. 3), freshman Lars de Boer (No. 4) and junior Scott Huang (No. 6) picked up singles wins. Both W&M setbacks have come to national top 30 competition, including a close 5-2 setback to No. 29 Harvard. Niquet and sophomore Addison Appleby continued their strong start in doubles, improving to 5-0 on the season, including a win over Harvard. In singles against the Crimson, Niquet and freshman Alec Miller posted wins. Cargill continues to lead W&M in singles (9) and doubles (11) wins overall and has held down the top singles and doubles slots during the dual-match season. Niquet owns the top dual-match mark at 3-1 in singles competition.

The Bulldogs are the reigning MEAC Champions and are the flagship program of the league, having won 10 of the last 11 MEAC crowns. South Carolina State posted a 12-8 record last season and were picked as the favorite to win the MEAC Southern Division title this season. SCSU head coach Hardeep Judge was named the 2014 USTA Coach of the Year. Over his 13-year tenure with the Bulldogs, the program is an impressive 201-73 overall and 64-8 in MEAC play. SCSU's top returning player in sophomore Martin Figura, who was a First Team All-MEAC choice last season.

Series History: W&M vs. South Carolina State
Saturday marks the second straight season in which the Tribe and Bulldogs have met. Last season, W&M won all six singles matches in downing SCSU, 6-1, at the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center.

The Bison were picked to finish second in the preseason MEAC Northern Division poll , behind Morgan State. Last season, a young Howard team went 2-16 under head coach Larry Strickland. Strickland has led the Bison program since 1984 and is an 11-time MEAC Coach of the Year. Howard opened the season with a 7-0 loss to top-10 North Carolina on Jan. 18. Sophomore Ismael Kaouache held down the No. 1 singles position against the Tar Heels. He was the MEAC Rookie of the Year last season.

Series History: W&M vs. Howard
The Tribe leads the all-time series with the Bison at 8-0. The teams played four straight years from 1997-00 and three straight from 2008-10. All eight matches have been played in Williamsburg, including a 7-0 Tribe win over Howard last season at the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center.

The Tribe continues its five-match homestand with three contests next week. W&M hosts Norfolk State at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 28, before hosting a Saturday, Jan. 31, doubleheader against Brown (10 a.m.) and Morgan State (4 p.m.).