WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – After a successful season-opening Northeast swing, the William & Mary men's tennis team plays at home inside the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center for the first time this season on Sunday afternoon. The Green and Gold welcomes former CAA counterpart and current Patriot League foe Navy to Williamsburg for an 11 a.m. match. The Tribe has won nine-straight home openers dating back to the 2007 campaign. In head coach Jeff Kader's first season at the helm in 2016, W&M downed Coastal Carolina, 6-1, in its first home match.
 
Scouting the Tribe
The Tribe went 2-1 in its season-opening Northeast road swing, closing out the trip with back-to-back wins over Brown and Boston College. After suffering a 5-2 setback to the Brown Bears last season, W&M pulled out a thrilling 4-3 win in 2017. The Green and Gold captured the doubles point thanks to a clinching victory at the top position from senior Aidan Talcott and junior Ryan Newman. In singles, Brown opened with victories at No. 3 and No. 4 to move in front, 2-1. W&M answered with three-set wins at the top two posts from Talcott and junior Christian Cargill. After the Bears tied the match at three apiece, senior Damon Niquet clinched the W&M victory with a come-from-behind three-set win at No. 6. In capturing a 5-2 win over ACC foe Boston College, W&M again claimed the doubles point, before receiving straight-set wins from Talcott (No. 1), senior Addison Appleby (No. 3) and sophomore Michael Ruamthong (No. 6). Cargill rounded it out with a come-from-behind three-set triumph at No. 2. Four Tribe players (Talcott, Cargill, Appleby and Niquet) tallied 2-1 dual-match marks to open the season. In doubles, Talcott and Newman led the way with a 2-1 ledger at No. 1. In the ITA Regional rankings released earlier this month, W&M had two singles players in the top 20 and a doubles team in the top 10. Talcott, who is rated No. 72 nationally, came in at No. 5 in the Atlantic Region, while Cargill was No. 20. The duo of Appleby and junior Lars de Boer was ranked No. 10 in the Atlantic Region doubles ranking.
 
Scouting Navy
The Midshipmen opened the year with a doubleheader sweep of St. Bonaventure, 6-1, and St. Francis (Pa.), 4-3, on Jan. 22. Navy will host a Jan. 28 doubleheader against Howard and St. Joseph's along with match on Sunday vs. La Salle, before meeting the Green and Gold in Williamsburg.  Last season, the Mids finished the year at 22-9, including a 5-0 in Patriot League mark, before falling in the league championship final to Army West Point, 4-3. In 2016-17, Zach Jennings and Greg Durham lead Navy with singles marks of 10-6 and 9-6, respectively. In its doubleheader sweep, Thomas Pecor (St. Bonaventure) and Aries Wong (St. Francis (Pa.) clinched Navy's team victories with wins at the top singles position. Pecor returns after earning All-Patriot League honors last season.
 
Series History: W&M vs. Navy
Navy leads the all-times series between the former CAA rivals, 11-6, but the Tribe has won each of the last five match-ups. Recently, the Green and Gold dispatched of the Midshipmen, 7-0, in 2011, 5-2 in 2013, and 6-1 last season. Each of the last four meetings between the teams have been played in Williamsburg.