WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - Playing without its top player, the William and Mary men's tennis team demonstrated its depth with a commanding 6-1 win over CAA foe James Madison on Saturday at the McCromack-Nagelsen Tennis Center. The Tribe, who was forced to play wihtout freshman
Christian Cargill due to illness, claimed the doubles point thanks to a tiebreaker win from the sophomore duo of
Addison Appleby and
Damon Niquet, before winning five of six singles matches to claim its first CAA match of the season. W&M improved to 11-7 on the year, while JMU fell to 3-6.
The teams split doubles matches at the No. 1 and No. 3 positions, leaving initial point of the match to be decided at No. 2. The Tribe's top pair of seniors
Aaron Chaffee and
Will Juggins won their fourth straight match, downing JMU's Miljan Ruzic and Sebastian Salinas, 8-3.
After the Dukes won at No. 3 doubles, it came down to the No. 2 tilt pitting Appleby and Niquet against the JMU team of Brett Moorhead and Alex Berdnikoff. In the tiebreaker, the Tribe duo clinched the point with an 8-7 (4) victory to improve to 9-4 on the year.
Niquet and junior
Scott Huang each dropped just one game in picking up convincing singles wins at the No. 3 and No. 4 positions. Niquet won his second straight and improved to 12-6 with a 6-0, 6-1 triumph over Ruzic at No. 3. Huang dropped a lone game in the first set, upending Maxi Branth, 6-1, 6-0, to improve to 14-7, including a 4-0 ledger at No. 4.
Freshman
Alec Miller ran his win streak to seven matches with his 10th dual-match triumph of the year. The Green and Gold rookie bounced JMU freshman Stephen Goldman, 6-3, 6-0, at the No. 6 post, upping his season ledger to 13-6.
Like they did in doubles, Juggins and Chaffee were both victorious in singles competition. Juggins improved to a perfect 3-0 at the No. 1 slot, knocking off, reigning CAA Player of the Week Sebastian Salinas, 6-4, 6-3. It marked Juggins' fifth win in the last six matches as he picked up his 12th victory of the year. Chaffee remained perfect at 7-0 in singles with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Brett Moorhead at No. 5.
The Tribe will travel to California for its Spring Break trip next week. The Green and Gold takes part in the prestigious Pacific Coast Doubles Championship, March 5-8. While they are in the Golden State, W&M face a pair of nationally-ranked opponents in No. 53 Pepperdine and No. 54 San Diego State. The Tribe faces the Wave on Thursday, March 5, before taking on the Aztecs on Tuesday, March 10.
William and Mary 6, James Madison 1
Singles
No. 1 –
Will Juggins (W&M) vs. Sebastian Salinas (JMU) – 6-4, 6-3
No. 3 –
Damon Niquet (W&M) vs. Miljan Ruzic (JMU) – 6-0, 6-1
No. 4 –
Scott Huang (W&M) vs. Maxi Branth (JMU) – 6-1, 6-0
No. 6 –
Alec Miller (W&M) vs. Stephen Goldman (JMU) – 6-3, 6-0
Doubles
No. 1 – Chaffee/Juggins (W&M) def. Ruzic/Salinas (JMU) – 8-3
No. 2 – Appleby/Niquet (W&M) def. Moorhead/Berdnikoff (JMU) – 8-7 (4)
No. 3 – Branth/Stirling (JMU) def. Huang/Miller (W&M) – 8-3
