BURLINGTON, N.C. – The No. 3 seed William & Mary men's tennis team slayed the No. 6 seed Drexel Dragon, 4-0, in the Colonial Athletic Association Quarterfinals on Friday afternoon at the Burlington Tennis Center. The Tribe (10-11) captured the doubles point with victories at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions, before seniors Aidan Talcott and Damon Niquet along with junior Christian Cargill notched singles wins over Drexel (13-8) to cement the team victory.
 
In doubles, senior Addison Appleby and junior Lars de Boer gave the Green and Gold an early lead with a win at No. 3. The Tribe pairing blasted Daniil Ginzburg and Balaji Lakshmanan, 6-2, for its fourth win of the year and 13th as a duo in their careers. Teaming together for just the second time, sophomore Tristan Bautil and Talcott clinched the point with a 6-2 win over Hamza Laalej and Youssef Lahlou at No. 2.
 
Talcott and Cargill continued their strong singles play, dropping just two games apiece in pushing the Tribe lead to 3-0. At No. 2, Cargill won his seventh straight, bouncing Lakshmanan, 6-0, 6-2. He improved to 15-14 on the year and a remarkable 13-5 at the second spot.  Talcott won for the fifth time in his last six matches, dispatching of Laalej, 6-1, 6-1. He pushed his season record to 15-10, including an 11-7 ledger at No. 1.
 
Niquet clinched the Tribe's passage into the semifinals with a win at No. 5. The Tribe senior rolled to a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Ginzburg for his 72nd career win, which ranks 15th in W&M history. Niquet extend his season mark to 17-10 overall, while improving to 14-4 in dual-match play and 9-3 at the fifth spot.
 
The Tribe faces No. 2 seed Elon in the CAA Semifinals at approximately 11:30 a.m., on Saturday. Please note the moved up start time due to the forecast of rain. The men's semifinals will begin 60 minutes after the conclusion of the women's semifinals, which are set to begin at 8:30 a.m. The Phoenix earned a spot in the semifinals thanks to a 4-1 win over No. 7 Hofstra on Friday. Earlier this season, Elon topped W&M, 5-2, in North Carolina. It was a highly entertaining match as the doubles point in the match was decided by an 8-6 tiebreaker and five of the six singles matches went three sets.
 
Elon University is the host of the 2017 CAA Championship at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center. The title match is set for 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 23, and the winner earns the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Admission is free for everyday of the championship. For more information, log on the Tennis Championship page on CAASports.com. Click HERE to check out league's championship page and HERE for the live stats links.
 
William & Mary 4, Drexel 0
Singles
No. 1 – Aidan Talcott (W&M) def. Hamza Laalej (Drexel) – 6-1, 6-1
No. 2 – Christian Cargill (W&M) def. Balaji Lakshmanan (Drexel) – 6-0, 6-2
No. 3 – Addison Appleby (W&M) vs. Sinan Orhon (Drexel) – DNF, 6-3, 3-2
No. 4 – Alec Miller (W&M) vs. Youssef Lahlou (Drexel) – DNF, 6-7 (5)
No. 5 – Damon Niquet (W&M) def. Daniil Ginzburg (Drexel) – 6-1, 6-2
No. 6 – Lars de Boer (W&M) vs. Kashyap Ashok (Drexel) – DNF 6-4, 3-3
Finishing Order: 2, 1, 5*
 
Doubles
No. 1 – Cargill/Newman (W&M) vs. Orhon/Ashok (Drexel) – DNF, 4-3
No. 2 – Bautil/Talcott (W&M) def. Laalej/Lahlou (Drexel) – 6-2
No. 3 – Appleby/de Boer (W&M) def. Lakshmanan/Ginzburg (Drexel) – 6-2
Finishing Order: 3, 2*