WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - For the second straight, the William & Mary men's tennis teams kicks off the season with a Northeast road swing. The Tribe begins the 2017 campaign at Yale on Friday, Jan. 20, at 2 p.m., before heading to Brown on Saturday, Jan. 21, at 1 p.m., and Boston College on Sunday, Jan. 22, at 11 a.m. Last season, W&M opened at Yale, Harvard and Brown over a four-day stretch in January.
 
Scouting the Tribe
The Green and Gold welcomes back seven upperclassmen among its nine returning players. Last season, the Tribe compiled a 15-9 dual-match mark and earned the program's highest national ranking since 2010. All but one player returns from the Tribe's CAA Tournament lineup at the end of last season. The senior trio of Addison Appleby, Damon Niquet and Aidan Talcott lead the way. Niquet and Talcott are the Tribe's captains. Niquet enters the spring of his senior season among the top 10 in career winning percentage in both singles (10th at 63 percent with a 58-34 record) and doubles (tied for fourth at 67.9 percent with a 53-25 record), while Talcott garnered the No. 72 national ranking in singles at the conclusion of the fall season. Juniors Christian Cargill and Alec Miller return after All-CAA seasons in 2016. Cargill is just the eighth multi-time First Team All-CAA selection in program history. He currently is the Tribe's career leader in doubles winning percentage (71.3) thanks to an impressive 57-23 mark. Miller was a second-team choice after going 13-8 in dual-match play and winning 19 total singles tilts. The Tribe is looking to continue a streak of success in its season openers on Friday against Yale. The Green and Gold has won nine-straight openers and 16 of its last 17. The last two campaigns, the Tribe started the year with road wins at Florida A&M in 2015 and Yale last season. W&M's opening three-match Northeast swing is part of a stretch that includes seven of the Green and Gold's first eight on the road.
 
Scouting Yale
Yale is coming off a 12-13 season and failed to win an Ivy League match in 2016. Senior Tyler Lu, who missed part of the 2015-16 season due to injury including the Ivy League schedule, is the Bulldogs top-returning player. He garnered a national ranking of No. 94 during the fall campaign and picked up a win at the No. 1 singles position for Yale in its scrimmage against Brown. In total, the Bulldogs won three singles matches and four doubles tilts against the Bears. Freshman Dylan King, who won at No. 3 against Brown, and Lu both advanced to the round of 16 at the ITA Northeast Regional during the fall. In doubles, Stefan Doehler and Alex Hagermoser lead the way. The pair won two matches against Brown during the scrimmage and advanced the Northeast Regional semifinals during the fall.
 
Series History: W&M vs. Yale
The Tribe and Bulldogs meet for the second-straight year and fifth time overall. W&M evened the all-time series at two apiece with a narrow 4-3 victory last season. It marked the first time the teams met in New Haven. The Tribe claimed the doubles point, before Addison Appleby, Alec Miller and Lars de Boer recorded singles wins to cement the win over the Bulldogs.
 
Scouting Brown
Brown, which opens its season with the Tribe for the second-straight year, was 9-18 last season and did most of its damage at home, tallying an 8-6 mark in Providence, R.I. The Bears scrimmaged Yale on Jan. 16. Junior Peter Tarwid led Brown with a 19-9 singles ledger last season, including a 5-3 mark at the top position. He was a team-best 4-3 in Ivy League play. Senior Gregory Garcia split time with Tarwid at the No. 1 singles spot, tallying six wins at the spot. Tarwid led the Bears in doubles wins with 17 last season, including nine at No. 1.
 
Series History: W&M vs. Brown
The teams meet for the third-straight season in 2017. The Bears have won the last two meetings by 5-2 scores. Last season, Alec Miller and Aidan Talcott posted singles wins against Brown. W&M leads the all-time series at 5-2, winning the first five meeting against nationally-ranked Bear counterparts from 2000-08. W&M holds a 2-1 advantage in Providence, R.I.
 
Scouting Boston College
The Eagles open the 2017 campaign against the Tribe on Sunday. Boston College finished last season at 6-18 with 10 of its losses coming against nationally-ranked competition. Seniors Aidan McNulty and Hank Workman are the Eagles' top returning players after splitting time at the No. 1 singles position. McNulty won four matches at No. 1, while Workman tallied a team-best eight dual-match wins, including three at the top spot. Workman and freshman Derek Austin closed out the fall for BC, going 3-0 in singles at the Seahawks Invitational in November.
 
Series History: W&M vs. Boston College
W&M won the first and only meeting to date between the programs, 6-1, in Cambridge, Mass., during the 2015 season. Christian Cargill, Damon Niquet and Lars de Boer recorded singles wins in the Tribe's triumph over the Eagles.