WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - The William & Mary men's tennis team heads to the 2017 Colonial Athletic Association Championship beginning Friday at Elon. The Tribe is the event's No. 3 seed and takes on No. 6 Drexel for the second-straight season in the league tournament. The first two CAA quarterfinals are scheduled for an 8:30 a.m. start time at the Burlington Tennis Center, and the Tribe's quarterfinal will follow 60 minutes after the first two match-ups are complete. Click HERE to view the Tribe's CAA Championship preview.

Elon University is the host of the 2017 CAA Championship at the Burlington Tennis Center and the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center, April 21-23. The CAA semifinals are set for Saturday, April 22, with the championship to follow on Sunday, April 23. Both rounds are scheduled for 2 p.m. start times and will be played at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center. The winner of the CAA Championship receives the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Admission is free to every day of the championship. For more information, log on the Tennis Championship page on CAASports.com. Click HERE to check out league's championship preview and HERE for the live stats links.

Scouting the Tribe
The Tribe is the No. 3 seed in the CAA Championship for the ninth time since 1997 and the third time in the last four seasons. In fact, the Tribe's last CAA title in 2015 came as the No. 3 seed. The Green and Gold was also the No. 3 seed in the league tournament in 1997, 1998, 2000, 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2014. W&M sits at 9-11 on the season after dropping its last three matches by close 4-3 score lines. The Tribe fell to Middle Tennessee, VCU and Old Dominion all by the narrowest of margins. Junior Christian Cargill, who has won six straight entering the CAA Championship, won his second CAA Player of the Week award on Tuesday. He posted a pair of come-from-behind three-set wins at No. 2 singles against VCU and Old Dominion. Cargill is 14-14 on the year, including an impressive 12-5 at No. 2. Along with Cargill, junior Lars de Boer, who has won four of his last five matches, and senior Damon Niquet posted singles wins in the match with Old Dominion. Niquet leads the Tribe with a 16-10 singles mark, including a team-best 13-4 record in dual-match play. Senior Aidan Talcott, like Cargill, has won two CAA Player of the Week honors this season. He was ranked as high as No. 72 nationally this years and enters the league championship at 14-10 overall with a 10-7 mark at No. 1.
 
Post-Seasoned Head Coach
W&M head coach Jeff Kader, who is in the second season at the helm of his alma mater after five years as the top man at UTSA, is no stranger to postseason success both with the Tribe and in the coaching ranks. As a senior in 2005, he led W&M to upset wins over No. 62 Old Dominion and No. 38 VCU in the CAA Semifinals and Championship, respectively. It marked the Tribe's first CAA title since 1990. Kader went a perfect 3-0 at No. 1 singles and 3-0 in doubles on his way to being named the most outstanding performer of the championship. He upset the No. 20-ranked player in the country from VCU and the No. 33-ranked player from ODU during the championship run. As a head coach, Kader led UTSA to conference championships in 2012 and 2015. The Roadrunners won the Southland Conference title in 2012, and in its first season as a member of Conference USA in 2015, took home the league championship behind upset wins over No. 58 Old Dominion and No. 54 Rice in the semifinals and championship, respectively.
 
W&M's Record in the CAA Tournament

* the CAA moved to a head-to-head team championship in 1991
 
CAA Championship Rewind
The Tribe owns four CAA Championships all-time, including the most recent in 2015. Five players on W&M's current roster (Christian Cargill, Lars de Boer, Alec Miller, Addison Appleby and Damon Niquet) played major parts in the Tribe's CAA title two seasons ago. Last season, the Green and Gold picked up a 4-0 quarterfinal win over Drexel thanks to singles wins from Cargill (No. 1), Appleby (No. 2), Miller (No. 3) and de Boer (No. 4). In the semifinals against top-seeded UNCW, the Tribe fell 4-1, despite a win at No. 1 doubles from Cargill and Scott Huang along with a singles triumph from Aidan Talcott (No. 5). During the 2015 Championship run, Miller went 3-0 in singles play, while Niquet picked up a pair of wins in the semifinals and championship. Niquet and Cargill went a perfect 3-0 at No. 3 to help W&M to the doubles point in each match.
 
CAA Championship Schedule
Friday, April 21 - Quarterfinals - Burlington Tennis Center
Match #1 – 8:30 a.m. – #1 UNCW vs. #8 Delaware – Live Stats
Match #2 – 8:30 a.m. – #4 Charleston vs. #5 James Madison – Live Stats
Match #3 – 60 minutes after Match #1/#2 – #2 Elon vs. #7 Hofstra – Live Stats
Match #4 – 60 minutes after Match #1/#2 – #3 W&M vs. #6 Drexel – Live Stats

Saturday, April 22 - Semifinals - Jimmy Powell Tennis Center
Match #5 – 2 p.m. – Winner of Match #1 vs. Winner of Match #2 – Live Stats
Match #6 – 2 p.m. – Winner of Match #3 vs. Winner of Match #4 – Live Stats

Sunday, April 23 - Championship - Jimmy Powell Tennis Center
Match #7 – 2 p.m. – Winner of Match #5 vs. Winner of Match #6 – Live Stats

A Look at the Field …
#1 UNCW
Series History: W&M leads 22-4
Last Meeting: UNCW won 4-1 (4/23/16) – CAA Semifinals
 
UNCW is the top seed in the CAA Championship for the fifth year in a row. Despite dropping four of their last five matches, the Seahawks are 11-8 on the year, including a 4-3 setback in its regular-season finale at home to Old Dominion. Wilmington won four CAA titles between 2009 and 2014, including back-to-back crowns in 2013 and 2014. Last season, the Seahawks dropped a 4-3 decision in the title match to Charleston. UNCW's roster is young featuring eight freshmen, one sophomore and two juniors. Andres Torres, who is 9-5 overall and 3-3 at No. 1, and Agustin Savarino, who is 5-3 at No. 2 and 7-6 overall, have led the way at the top three singles positions throughout the dual-match season. Ignasi de Rueda tops UNCW with a 12-4 dual-match mark.

#2 Elon
Series History: W&M leads 3-2
Last Meeting: Elon won 5-2 (2/11/17)
 
Elon won its final three matches to close out the regular season at 11-11. The Phoenix topped Shaw (7-0), East Carolina (5-2) and UNCG (4-0) during its recent win streak. Elon has now won double-digit matches each of the last five seasons. The Phoenix won the doubles point on 13 occasions in 21 opportunities this season, including 11 of the last 15. Elon racked up a 3-0 mark against the CAA this season with victories over W&M (5-2), JMU (4-3) and Charleston (5-2). Felipe Sarrasague leads the way for the Phoenix at 14-6 at the top singles position. Salvador Mijares and Neal Port have won 11-straight doubles matches and are 12-2 in dual-match play at No. 2 and No. 3.

#4 Charleston
Series History: CofC leads 5-4
Last Meeting: W&M won 4-1 (4/19/15) – CAA Championship
 
Charleston is the defending CAA Champion and enters the 2017 event winners in five of its final seven matches. After winning five straight, the Cougars dropped their final two regular-season tilts to Old Dominion (4-3) and Charlotte (5-2), both on the road. CofC is 13-7 on the year, but dropped its only CAA match of the season to Elon (5-2). Juan Estevarena, who was named the Most Outstanding Performer at the 2016 CAA Championship, is 14-4 at the top singles post for the Cougars followed by Benedikt Henning who is 14-3 at No. 2. In doubles, Rodrigo Encinas and Estevarena have gone 5-2 recently at the top post.

#5 James Madison
Series History: W&M leads 31-15
Last Meeting: W&M won 5-2 (4/17/16)
 
The Dukes won each of their last three matches to close out the regular season at 14-8 on the year. JMU downed Villanova (4-2), Drexel (6-1) and Bridgewater (7-0). James Madison went 3-1 in league play, picking up wins over Hofsra and Delaware as well with its lone loss to Elon (4-3). Paul Mendoza leads JMU with a 21-8 singles mark, including a 14-5 record in duals. Damon Roberts, Theophile Lanthiez and Sebastian Salinas have spent time at No. 1 for the Dukes this season. Roberts is 19-11 overall with a 14-8 mark in duals top three spots, while both Lanthiez and Salinas have 15 wins apiece. In doubles, Lanthiez and Mendoza own a 12-5 dual-match record with 10 wins at No. 1.
 
#6 Drexel
Series History: W&M leads 2-0
Last Meeting: W&M won 4-0 (4/22/16) – CAA Quarterfinals
 
The Dragons enter the CAA Championship at 13-7 on the year. Drexel won three of its final four regular-season matches, including CAA victories over Hofstra (5-2) and Delaware (6-1) during the stretch. DU went 2-1 in league action, falling in its regular season finale to James Madison (6-1). The Dragons are one team victory away from breaking the program's single-season mark. Hamza Laalej owns a 10-8 mark at No. 1 singles for Drexel and is 19-11 overall. Dalajii Lakshmanan leads DU with 22 singles wins on the season. In doubles, Sinan Orhon and Kashyap are the Dragons top team, tallying a 21-9 mark with a 7-5 ledger at No. 1. Laalej and Youssef Lahlou are 19-9 in doubles action, including a 10-5 mark at No. 2.
 
#7 Hofstra
Series History: W&M leads 2-0
Last Meeting: W&M won 4-0 (4/17/15) – CAA Quarterfinals

Hofstra sits at 9-15 on the year after falling in four of its last five matches to close out the season. The Pride went 1-2 in CAA action with a victory over Delaware (4-3) and a pair of 5-2 losses to JMU and Drexel. Marcus Smith holds down the top singles spot for Hofstra and is 12-8 in dual-match play at the post. Both Coco Haener and Jan Leithner tallied 18 singles wins for the Pride. In doubles, Haener and Niko Vulinovich combine to comprise Hofstra's top doubles team. The pair is 17-12 overall and 12-10 at the No. 1 spot. Laithner and Smith are 18-8 in doubles, including a 14-6 mark at No. 2.

#8 Delaware
Series History: W&M leads 8-0
Last Meeting: W&M won 6-1 (3/29/14)
 
Delaware dropped four of its final five matches, all on the road, and enter the weekend at 9-17 on the season. Included in that final stretch was a 9-0 win over West Chester. The Blue Hens dropped all three of their CAA matches, falling to JMU (6-1), Hofstra (4-3) and Drexel (6-1). Colin Wong led UD with 17 wins overall and a 10-9 ledger in dual-match play at the top three posts, including 4-1 at No. 1. He teamed with Tyler Flematti to rack up six wins at No. 1 doubles.