WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The William & Mary men's tennis team wraps up a four-match road swing with a mid-week trek up Interstate 64 to face in-state rival VCU on Wednesday afternoon. The match carries a 3 p.m. start time from the Thalhimer Tennis Center. The teams meet for the third-straight season and for the 38th time overall in the last 37 years.
 
Scouting the Tribe  
The Tribe enters the week at 10-8 following a 5-2 setback at No. 45-ranked Middle Tennessee on Sunday. Sophomore Brenden Volk and freshman Michael Chen won their fifth in a row at the No. 3 doubles position to give W&M the early cushion, but the Blue Raiders pulled out a tiebreaker win at No. 1 to take the match's initial point. Despite wins from freshman Louis Newman at No. 3 and Volk at No. 6, the tiebreakers continued to fall the way of Middle Tennessee in singles as the home team claimed tiebreaker sets at No. 2 and No. 4 to close out the victory. Newman tallied his 16th singles win of the season to pull even with senior Christian Cargill for the team lead, while Volk won his second in a row. Despite having his five-match win streak snapped at Middle Tennessee, freshman Sebastian Quiros has been on a tear of late, earning CAA Player of the Week honors on April 3 and leading the team with an 11-5 dual-match record. Prior to the setback against the Blue Raiders, W&M had won the doubles point in four-straight matches. Along with Volk and Chen's success at No. 3, senior Alec Miller and junior Tristan Bautil are 4-2 on the top line and garnered the CAA Doubles Team of the Week distinction on March 20. Earlier this season, the Tribe earned its highest national ranking in a decade coming at No. 45 in February. Included in the Tribe's haul of wins is a 4-3 upset of then-No. 25 South Carolina in Williamsburg on Feb. 9. W&M is 2-0 in CAA play and in line to garner the top seed in the league championship thanks to victories over Elon, 4-3, and James Madison, 7-0.
 
Scouting VCU
The Rams are 11-8 overall, including a 9-4 mark in Richmond. VCU is coming off a narrow 4-3 setback at No. 45 Middle Tennessee on Saturday. Along with the Blue Raiders, W&M and VCU have three other common opponents in Penn, ETSU and Elon. Both teams are 2-2 against the quartet with the differences being a VCU win over ETSU and a Tribe victory over Elon. The Rams are 3-0 this season in the A-10 after claiming the conference championship in 2017. Javier Amantegui, Vitor Lima and Arvid Noren hold down the top of the Rams' singles lineup. Noren, who is 12-9 on the year, owns a 9-4 ledger in dual-match play, including a 2-1 mark at the top spot over the last three contests. Amantegui leads the Rams with 14 singles wins, including eight in dual-match competition, while Lima is 10-10 overall with seven wins at the top three spots. Amantegui and Lima have comprised VCU's top doubles teams recently, going 3-3 at No. 1.
 
Series History: W&M vs. VCU
VCU leads the all-time series at 29-8. The Rams have won the last six meetings between the teams, including a 4-3 win in Williamsburg last season. The Green and Gold's last victory over the Rams 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. Kader was named the Most Outstanding Player at the CAA Championship.
 
Up Next
The Tribe hosts Charlotte in its final home match of the year at the Millie West Tennis Facility on Saturday, April 14, at 11 a.m. W&M will honor its trio of seniors Christian Cargill, Lars de Boer and Alec Miller during the match. The Tribe closes out the regular season at No. 34 Old Dominion on Sunday, April 15, at 1 p.m.