WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The No. 70 William & Mary men's tennis team continues its six-match road swing, traveling up Interstate 64 to face former league rival VCU on Wednesday afternoon. The match carries a 3 p.m. start time at the Thalhimer Tennis Center in Richmond. It marks the first meeting between the teams since 2012 when the Rams departed the Colonial Athletic Association to compete in the Atlantic-10 Conference.
 
Scouting William & Mary
The Tribe currently sits at 12-6 on the year and appeared in the national rankings for the sixth-straight week. The Green and Gold came in at No. 70 in the latest ITA standing released on Tuesday. W&M is coming off a 5-2 setback in its first CAA match of the season at Elon. Junior Damon Niquet and sophomore Alec Miller provided the singles victories for the Tribe. Niquet won his 13th-straight match, improving to 16-8 on the season, with a straight-sets win at the No. 6 spot. Miller also notched his 16th win, posting a three-set triumph at No. 3. Prior to its setback at Elon, W&M recorded its highest nationally-ranked win since 2008 with a 4-2 win over No. 44-ranked Drake at the Rice Invitational on March 27. The Tribe's tilt with VCU is part of a six-match road swing that started with three matches against nationally-ranked competition in the Rice Invite. In fact, four of the six road matches are against teams in the current national rankings. The Green and Gold wraps up the road swing at No. 48 Old Dominion on Saturday, April 9, at 2 p.m. Along with Niquet and Miller, junior Aidan Talcott shares the team lead with 16 singles wins on the year, including a 12-4 record in duals. Sophomore Lars de Boer is not far behind at 14-9 overall, including a 10-4 mark in dual-match action, while classmate Christian Cargill holds down a 9-7 record at the No. 1 singles position. The Tribe has captured the doubles point in 12 of its 18 matches this season, including five of its last seven contests. W&M found success at the No. 2 post, going 11-4 and at No. 3 with a 13-4 mark. Recently, Cargill and senior Scott Huang, who earned CAA Doubles Team of the Week honors on March 29, compiled a 3-1 ledger at No. 2, while Niquet and de Boer are 5-2 at the No. 3 spot. Sophomore Ryan Newman has played with a variety of partners at the No. 1 doubles spot and leads W&M with four victories at the post.
 
Scouting VCU
VCU enters the match with the Tribe at 15-7 on the year. The Rams split their trip to Tennessee last weekend. After falling to No. 35 Memphis, 4-0, VCU posted its first nationally-ranked win of the year, upending No. 64 Middle Tennessee State, 4-3. Against the Blue Raiders, the Rams claimed the doubles point with wins at No. 2 and No. 3, before picking up singles wins from Vitor Lima (No. 2), Catalin Fifea (No. 4) and Philip Mobius (No. 6). Five the Rams seven losses have come to nationally-ranked opponents, falling to No. 17 South Florida, No. 35 Memphis, No. 40 Virginia Tech, No. 53 Indiana and No. 54 Old Dominion. W&M and VCU have five common opponents in Howard, Radford, Binghamton, Elon and Norfolk State. Both teams are 4-1 against the group with losses to Elon. W&M fell to the Phoenix, 5-2, while VCU dropped a 4-3 decision.  The Rams are 10-1 at home this season with its only loss coming to ODU, 5-2, on Feb. 21. Michal Voscek is 14-7 at the No. 1 singles position for the Rams, while Lima is 15-11, including a 12-5 dual-match mark primarily at No. 2. Fifea leads the team with 16 singles victories, including a 12-6 record in duals playing mostly at the top three positions. Lima and Daryl Monfils have spent the most time at the No. 1 doubles post for the Rams, tallying an 8-6 record.
 
Series History: W&M vs. VCU
VCU leads the all-time series at 27-8, including a 15-3 mark in Richmond. The Rams have won the last four meetings between the teams with the latest match-up being a 5-2 VCU win in Richmond during the 2012 season. The Green and Gold's last win in the series came in Richmond by a 4-3 score in 2010. Tribe head coach Jeff Kader led W&M to a pair of thrilling wins over VCU during his playing career. Kader and the Tribe snapped a 60-match CAA win streak by downing No. 7-ranked VCU, 4-3, in 2004. A year later, the Green and Gold snapped a streak of nine-straight CAA Championships by VCU with a 4-2 in the 2005 title match.