WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The William & Mary men's tennis team won its fourth straight upending Ivy League counterpart Penn, 5-2, on Sunday morning at the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis. The Tribe (5-2) used a pair of undefeated doubles teams to claim the initial point, before winning a quartet of singles matches, including the clincher from junior Aidan Talcott at No. 5.
 
The Tribe opened the match by capturing the doubles point thanks to wins at No. 2 and No. 3. Senior Scott Huang and sophomore Alec Miller blanked the Penn duo of Thomas Spratt and Blaine Willenborg, 6-0, to give W&M the early lead in pairs competition. It marked the second-straight victory for the Green and Gold tandem at the No. 2 post. After Penn evened things with a win at No. 1, sophomore Christian Cargill and junior Damon Niquet clinched the point for the second time in as many matches, downing Kyle Mautner and Matt Nardella, 6-4, at the third slot. The Tribe pair ran its record to 4-0 on the year and 11-1 over the last two seasons.  
 
Penn (2-4) tied the match at one with a victory at the third singles spot, but Niquet responded with a convincing win at No. 6. The Tribe junior posted his fourth-straight win, defeating Spratt, 6-2, 6-2. It marked Niquet's seventh victory of the year as he upped his dual-match mark to 4-1.
 
The Quakers once again pulled even with a win at No. 2, before de Boer answered with a straight-sets win at No. 4. After taking the opening set from Nicholai Westergaard in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (4), the Tribe sophomore trailed 3-2 in the second set. He ripped off four games in a row to post his third straight win, 6-3. de Boer won for the sixth time in his last seven matches, improving to 9-6 overall and 5-1 in dual-match competition.
 
With the Tribe on top 3-2, it appeared the clash would come down to a pair of three-set tilts at No. 1 and No. 5, but Talcott had other ideas. After winning the first set with relative ease, 6-1, he trialed Penn's Zach Lessen, 5-1, in the second set. Talcott rallied to win five straight games, and in the tiebreaker, claimed three-straight points to take on 4-2 lead on the way to a match-clinching 7-4 victory. He ran his perfect dual-match mark to 6-0 and improved to 10-6 overall in singles play.
 
Cargill closed out the Tribe victory with an impressive three-set triumph at No. 1. Facing off with Kyle Mautner, who was ranked No. 6 in the ITA Northeast region in January, the Tribe sophomore won a nip-and-tuck first set, 7-6 (6), thanks to a winner down the line in the tiebreaker. After Mautner pulled even with a 6-1 win in the second, Cargill dominated the third set, 6-1, for his fourth-straight win. He evened his season mark at 8-8, while improving to 5-2 at the top spot.
 
The Tribe closes out its six-match homestand with a doubleheader on Saturday, Feb. 13. W&M welcomes Binghamton to Williamsburg at 10 a.m., before hosting Villanova at 5 p.m. Both matches will be played at the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center.
 
William & Mary 5, Penn 2
Singles
No. 1 – Christian Cargill (W&M) def. Kyle Mautner (Penn) – 7-6 (6), 1-6, 6-1
No. 2 – Josh Pompan (Penn) def. Alec Miller (W&M) – 6-4, 6-3
No. 3 – Matt Nardella (Penn) def. Addison Appleby (W&M) – 6-3, 6-4
No. 4 – Lars de Boer (W&M) def. Nicholai Westergaard (Penn) – 7-6 (4), 6-3
No. 5 – Aidan Talcott (W&M) def. Zach Lessen (Penn) – 6-2, 7-6 (4)
No. 6 – Damon Niquet (W&M) def. Thomas Spratt  (Penn) – 6-2, 6-2
Finishing Order: 3, 6, 2, 4, 5*, 1
 
Doubles
No. 1 – Kaplan/Westergaard (Penn) def. Appleby/de Boer (W&M) – 6-3
No. 2 – Miller/Huang (W&M) def. Spratt/Willenborg (Penn) – 6-0
No. 3 – Cargill/Niquet (W&M) def. Mautner/Nardella (Penn) – 6-4
Finishing Order: 2, 1, 3*