WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - For the second time in the last three seasons, the William and Mary men's tennis team earned a spot in the Colonial Athletic Association Championship following a 4-1 victory over the No. 2 seed Elon on Saturday afternoon. The Green and Gold claimed a thrilling doubles point thanks to a tiebreaker win from sophomore Addison Appleby and freshman Lars de Boer, before rookie Alec Miller clinched the Tribe triumph with a come-from-behind three-set win at No. 6. W&M improved to 15-12 with the victory, while the Phoenix dropped to 10-13.

The Green and Gold pair of sophomore Damon Niquet and freshman Christian Cargill gave W&M the early advantage with an 8-2 win over Robert Lindgren and Neal Port at No. 3 doubles. It was Niquet and Cargill's fourth straight win as the duo improved to 6-1 on the year.

After an Elon win at No. 1, Appleby and de Boer battled back from down a break at 6-5 and won two straight games to move in front, 7-6. The Phoenix duo of Jordan Kaufman and Chris Humphreys fought off six Tribe match points, before holding serve to force a tiebreaker for the doubles point. The Elon tandem raced out to a 6-2 lead in the breaker, before it was Appleby and de Boer's turn to fight off match points. The Green and Gold pairing erased five Phoenix match points, before winning the final three points on the way to a 9-7 victory in the tiebreaker. Appleby and de Boer won for the second time in as many tries at the CAA Championship and improved to 5-2 on the season.

W&M jumped out to set advantages at No. 1, No. 2, No. 4 and No. 5, before de Boer and Niquet brought the Tribe to the brink of the title game appearance. de Boer carried his strong doubles play over to singles, upending Josh Luck, 6-3, 6-2, at the fifth spot. He won for the sixth time in his last seven matches, improving to 18-11 overall and an impressive 13-4 in dual-match play.

Niquet stretched the Tribe margin to 3-0 with a straight-sets win at No. 4. The Tribe sophomore jumped out to an early advantage in the opening set and held on for a 7-5 win, before rolling to a 6-2 second-set triumph over Brian Kowalski. Niquet pushed his season ledger to 15-9, including a 6-1 mark at No. 4.

The other four singles matches went three sets as Elon rallied for splits at the top three spots, while Miller pulled the trick at No. 6 for W&M. The Phoenix closed the gap with a three-set victory at No. 3, but W&M dropped the hammer, surging in front at No. 1, No. 2 and No. 6. Miller clinched the Tribe's passage into the title match with a win at the sixth post. After dropping the first set, 6-4, to Elon's Chris Humphreys, the Tribe rookie rolled to a 6-2 win in the second. On serve and leading, 4-3, in the third, Miller broke Humphreys in the eighth game, before serving out the victory and being mobbed by his teammates. He won for the second time at the CAA Championship, while picking up his team-leading 14th dual-match win and pushing his overall mark to 17-11.

Cargill and senior Will Juggins both had their matches abandoned at No. 1 and No. 2, but each led in their decisive third sets. Juggins won the opening set, 6-4, and held a 4-3 cushion over All-CAA first team singles player Jordan Kaufman in the third set when the Tribe clinched. At the No. 1 spot, Cargill and Elon's Stefan Fortmann locked horns in a match-up of the CAA's Rookie and Player of the Year. Cargill won the opening set, 6-2, and was just a game away from winning the third set, leading 5-3 when the match was abandoned.

The Tribe will make its 10th CAA Championship game appearance since the tournament format was introduced in 1991 and its ninth under head coach Peter Daub. W&M will face the No. 4 seed College of Charleston on Sunday afternoon. The Cougars earned a spot in the title tilt by ending UNCW's two-year championship run with a 4-3 win. The winner of the CAA Championship will earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship. The CAA Championship match carries a 2 p.m. start time at the Millie West Tennis Facility.

No. 1 – Christian Cargill (W&M) vs. Stefan Fortmann (Elon) – DNF, 6-2, 4-6, 5-3

No. 2 – Will Juggins (W&M) vs. Jordan Kaufman (Elon) – DNF, 6-4, 5-7, 4-3

No. 3 – Robert Lindgren (Elon) def. Addison Appleby (W&M) – 7-5, 3-6, 6-0

No. 4 – Damon Niquet (W&M) def. Brian Kowalski (Elon) – 7-5, 6-2

No. 5 – Lars de Boer (W&M) def. Josh Luck (Elon) – 6-3, 6-2

No. 6 – Alec Miller (W&M) def. Chris Humphreys (Elon) – 4-6, 6-2, 6-3

Finishing Order: 5, 4, 3, 6*

No. 1 – Fortmann/Kowalski (Elon) def. Juggins/Chaffee (W&M) – 8-4

No. 2 – Appleby/de Boer (W&M) def. Kaufman/Humphreys (Elon) – 8-7 (7)

No. 3 – Cargill/Niquet (W&M) def. Lindgren/Port (Elon) – 8-2

Finishing Order: 3, 1, 2*