WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - On Senior Day, the William and Mary men's tennis team showed incredible fight, before falling to No. 48 Old Dominion, 4-3, in a knock-down, drag-out, five-and-a-half-hour donnybrook at the Millie West Tennis Facility. After claiming the doubles point, W&M honored its three-member senior class of Zach Braig, Aaron Chaffee and Will Juggins, before the four-hour singles session saw the Monarchs win four matches, including three in three sets, to clinch the victory. It marked the sixth time in the last eight meetings between W&M and ODU that the score ended in narrow 4-3 fashion. W&M fell to 13-12 overall, while ODU improved to 15-2 on the year.

The Tribe opened by taking a thrilling doubles point with victories at No. 1 and No. 3. Freshman Christian Cargill and sophomore Damon Niquet gave W&M the early advantage with an 8-4 win at No. 3 over the ODU duo of Zvonimir Podvinski and Theophile Lanthiez. The Tribe duo won for the fourth time in their five matches at No. 3.

After a Monarch win at No. 2, Chaffee and Juggins pulled out a huge triumph at the top spot to clinch the point. Trailing 2-1 in the early going, the Tribe pair  ripped off seven of the final nine games to secure an 8-4 win over ODU's Adam Moundir and Michael Weindl. The Monarch tandem entered the match at 21-9 overall and 12-4 at No. 1, while Chaffee and Juggins improved to 7-3 at the top spot and 9-4 overall with the win.  

Old Dominion pulled even with a victory at No. 4 singles, before sophomore Addison Appleby put W&M back in front with a straight-sets win the third post. Appleby rolled to a 6-0, 6-4 win over Weindl for his 10th dual-match victory of the season. The Tribe sophomore evened his overall record at 14-14 with his fourth win at No. 4, while also giving the Tribe a 2-1 advantage over the national top-50 opponent.

The final four matches all went three sets with the Monarchs pulling out victories at No. 1, No. 2 and No. 6. After ODU's Carlos Lopez Villa took the opening set from Cargill, 7-5, at the top spot, the Tribe rookie fought back to force a decisive third set, taking the second, 6-4, from the former top-50 nationally-ranked player. Battling cramps in the third set, Cargill could not overcome Lopez Villa as the Monarchs evened the match at two.

At No. 2 singles, Moundir outlasted Juggins in a three-set classic. The Tribe senior won the first set, 6-4, and jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the second, before Moundir won five straight games and the set, 6-4. The back and forth match continued in the third set as Juggins won two straight games to move in front, 3-2. Even at five, Moundir broke Juggins and then served out the match to put ODU on top for the first time at 3-2.

The balance of the match came down to the No. 5 and No. 6 positions where ODU opened by taking the first set in both tilts. At No. 6, freshman Alec Miller responded from dropping the opening set by taking the second, 6-4, from ODU junior Zvonimir Podvinski. Miller carried the momentum over to the third set, jumping out to a 3-0 advantage, but Podvinski won three straight games as well to pull even at three. With the third set tied at four, Podvinski broke Miller in the ninth game and then served out the clinching 6-4 win for the Monarchs.

Freshman Lars de Boer rallied to post a three-set win at No. 5. After dropping the first set to Theophile Lanthiez, 6-2, de Boer roared back to take the second, 6-4. He jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the third set, before Lanthiez retired while battling cramps. de Boer improved to 17-11 overall and an impressive 12-4 in dual-match play with the victory. He has won five of his last six matches and is tied for the team lead in singles wins overall and in dual matches.  

The Tribe returns to action next week when its hosts the Colonial Athletic Association Championship at the Millie West Tennis Facility. Action gets underway with the quarterfinals on Friday, April 17, at 3 and 6 p.m. The semifinals and championship are set for 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 18, and Sunday, April 19, respectively. The seeding for the CAA Championship will be released early next week.

No. 1 – Carlos Lopez Villa (ODU) def. Christian Cargill (W&M) – 7-5, 4-6, 6-0

No. 2 – Adam Moundir (ODU) def. Will Juggins (W&M) – 4-6, 6-4, 7-5

No. 3 – Addison Appleby (W&M) def. Michael Weindl (ODU) – 6-0, 6-4

No. 4 – Javier Jover Maestre (ODU) def. Damon Niquet (W&M) – 6-2, 6-1

No. 5 – Lars de Boer (W&M) def. Theophile Lanthiez (ODU) – 2-6, 6-4, 3-0, retire

No. 6 – Zvonimir Podvinski (ODU) def. Alec Miller (W&M) – 6-1, 4-6, 6-4

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

No. 1 – Chaffee/Juggins (W&M) def. Moundir/Weindl (ODU) – 8-4

No. 2 – Lopez Villa/Jover Maestre (ODU) def. Appleby/de Boer (W&M) – 8-4

No. 3 – Cargill/Niquet (W&M) def. Podvinski/Lanthiez (ODU) – 8-4

Finishing Order: 3, 2, 1*