WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - The William & Mary men's tennis team heads to the 2018 Colonial Athletic Association Championship as the top seed for the first time since 2010. The Green and Gold takes on No. 8 seed Delaware at 9 a.m., on Friday, April 20, at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center.

Elon University is the host of the 2018 CAA Championship at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center. The CAA semifinals are set for Saturday, April 21, with the championship to follow on Sunday, April 22. Both rounds are scheduled for 2 p.m. start times at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center. The winner of the CAA Championship 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 preview and HERE for the live stats links.

Scouting the Tribe
The Green and Gold enters the CAA Championship at 11-10 on the year after splitting its final two matches of the season against a pair of Conference USA foes. The Tribe rolled to a 6-1 Senior Day win over Charlotte on April 14, before suffering a narrow 4-3 setback to No. 34 Old Dominion on April 15. Senior Alec Miller highlighted the Tribe effort, winning at the No. 2 singles position in both. Against the Monarchs, he upset the No. 96-ranked player in the country and was named the CAA Player of the Week on Tuesday. The Tribe captured the doubles point in both matches and has done so in six of the last eight matches. Miller and Bautil, who earned CAA Doubles Team of the Week honors on March 20, hold down the No. 1 spot, going 4-4 on the year. Freshman Michael Chen and sophomore Brenden Volk moved up to the No. 2 post and have won seven of their last eight matches, compiling a 7-2 mark in dual-match play. Senior Christian Cargill and freshman Louis Newman lead W&M at 13-7 in doubles play, including an 8-5 dual-match mark. Along with his strong weekend, Miller is 15-12 in singles play this season, including 7-1 at No. 2. Newman leads the team with a 17-12 singles record, while both Cargill and freshman Finbar Talcott own 16 wins apiece. Volk has won five matches in a row since breaking into the Tribe lineup at No. 6, including both tilts last weekend. Along with Miller's CAA Player of the Week award, three other Tribe players earned the league weekly honor this season, including Cargill, Newman and freshman Sebastian Quiros. Cargill garnered the honor in back-to-back in February, including after leading the program to a 4-3 upset of then-No. 25 South Carolina. The Tribe earned its highest national ranking since 2008 earlier this season and is the only CAA program to appear in the top 50 this season.

Post-Seasoned Head Coach
W&M head coach Jeff Kader, who is in the third 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. In his first two seasons at the helm, the Tribe is 3-2 in the CAA Championship, including a title match appearance last season.
 
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. The Tribe's Senior Class of Christian Cargill, Lars de Boer and Alec Miller played a key role in the program's crown in 2015. Last season, the Green and Gold advanced to the championship match for the 11th time, falling to top-seed UNCW, 4-2. In the title match, Miller won at the No. 4 position and eventual CAA Player of the Year Aidan Talcott notched a victory at No. 1. The Tribe earned a spot in the title match with wins over Drexel, 4-0, in the quarterfinals and Elon, 4-1, in the semifinals. The Green and Gold captured the doubles point in both matches. Talcott went 3-0 at the championship at the No. 1 position and was named the Most Outstanding Performer of the CAA Championship. Miller added a singles win in the semifinals, while Cargill won at No. 2 vs. Drexel and de Boer posted a win at No. 6 against Elon. Here is a look at how current Tribe players have fared in the CAA Championship during their careers:
 

Name	Singles	Doubles
Tristan Bautil	0-0	1-3
Christian Cargill	2-1	6-0
Lars de Boer	3-3	4-2
Alec Miller	6-1	0-0

CAA Championship Schedule
Friday, April 20 - Quarterfinals - Jimmy Powell Tennis Center
Match #1 – 9 a.m. – #1 W&M vs. #8 Delaware – Live Stats
Match #2 – 9 a.m. – #4 James Madison vs. #5 Drexel – Live Stats
Match #3 – 1 p.m.  – #2 Elon vs. #7 Hofstra – Live Stats
Match #4 – 1 p.m. – #3 UNCW vs. #6 Charleston – Live Stats

Saturday, April 21 - Semifinals - Jimmy Powell Tennis Center
Match #5 – 10 a.m. – Winner of Match #1 vs. Winner of Match #2 – Live Stats
Match #6 – 10 a.m. – Winner of Match #3 vs. Winner of Match #4 – Live Stats

Sunday, April 22 - Championship - Jimmy Powell Tennis Center
Match #7 – 10 a.m. – Winner of Match #5 vs. Winner of Match #6 – Live Stats

A Look at the Field …

#2 Elon
Series History: W&M leads 5-2
Last Meeting: W&M won 4-3 (1/26/18)
 
The Phoenix won its final three matches of the regular season to compile a 15-7 ledger entering the CAA Championship. Elon, who went 10-1 at home this season, tallied wins over JMU (4-3), UNC Asheville (5-2) and UNCG (5-2) to wrap up the year. The Phoenix went 2-1 in CAA competition, downing UNCW (4-3) along with its victory over James Madison. Elon's lone loss in CAA competition came to the Tribe, 4-3, in Williamsburg during the month of January. As a team in dual-match play, the Phoenix is 80-48 in singles and 33-20 in doubles. Felipe Sarrasague and Mario Paccini hold down the top of the singles lineup, going 13-7 and 12-8, respectively, between the No. 1 and No. 2 posts. In doubles, Paccini and Neal Port combined to go 10-3 at the top spot, while Sarrasague teams with Salvador Mijares, mainly at No. 2, going 11-5 in dual-match play.
 
#3 UNCW
Series History: W&M leads 22-5
Last Meeting: UNCW won 4-2 (4/24/17) – CAA Championship
 
The Seahawks are 16-4 on the year and split their CAA match during the regular season. UNCW returns five of its top six players from last season, including the top three in its singles lineup. In CAA action, Wilmington upended JMU, 6-1, while falling to Elon, 4-3. As a team in dual-match play, the Seahawks are 69-40 in singles and 33-16 in  doubles. They have won the early point in 12 of their last 14 appearances. Andres Torres continues to hold down the No. 1 post, tallying eight wins. He is followed in the lineup by Agustin Savarino (13-6), Ignasi de Rueda (14-4) and Michael Copeland (15-4). In doubles, de Rueda and Raphael Calzi tallied an 8-7 record at No. 1. Torres and Michael Morphy are 12-2 at the No. 2 spot, while Savarino and Copeland compiled a 13-2 ledger, mainly at No. 3.
 
#4 James Madison
Series History: W&M leads 32-15
Last Meeting: W&M won 7-0 (3/17/18)
 
JMU is 16-6 on the year and went 4-3 in CAA action. The Dukes won their final two regular-season matches, downing Villanova, 6-1, and Drexel, 4-3. The latter was a preview of the CAA quarterfinal match at 9 a.m. on Friday. James Madison's trio of CAA losses came to W&M, UNCW and Elon. Paul Mendoza tallied a 17-13 singles ledger, including a 12-7 mark in dual-match play at the No. 1 spot.  Alvaro Arce Garcia leads the Dukes in singles wins with 19, going 13-5 in duals at the top three posts, while Damon Roberts notched an 18-14 overall ledger and a 14-8 dual-match mark at the top four spots. In doubles, Mendoza and Theophile Lanthiez lead JMU at 22-8, including a 16-5 record at No. 1.

#5 Drexel
Series History: W&M leads 3-0
Last Meeting: W&M won 4-0 (4/21/17) – CAA Quarterfinals

Drexel set a pair of school records going 13-6 during the regular season. The Dragons won the most matches in school history and recorded the program's best winning percentage. Drexel won seven of its final eight matches, including victories over Delaware and Hofstra during that stretch. DU's lone setback over the last eight came by a narrow 4-3 margin to quarterfinal foe James Madison. Hamza Laalej leads Drexel with a 17-11 singles ledger, including a 9-8 mark at the top two spots. Balaji Lakshmanan went 12-6 in dual-match singles at the No. 1 and No. 2 positions. In doubles, Sinan Orhon and Bernard Tefel comprise DU's top doubles that went 19-6 overall and 8-4 at No. 1. Lakshmanan and Sanil Jagtiani provided a strong No. 2 for the Dragons, going 12-4.
 
#6 Charleston
Series History: CofC leads 5-4
Last Meeting: W&M won 4-1 (4/19/15) – CAA Championship
 
Charleston, which won the CAA crown in 2016, enters the 2018 event at 7-11 on the year. The Cougars have dropped their last three matches, including their lone CAA match, 5-2, at James Madison. Benedikt Henning owns CofC's top singles record during the dual-match season at 11-5, including a 7-3 mark at No. 1. Juan Estevarena is 7-6 in singles between the No. 1 and No. 2 positions. In doubles, the pair is Charleston's top team, going 8-2 at the top spot.  

#7 Hofstra
Series History: W&M leads 2-0
Last Meeting: W&M won 4-0 (4/17/15) – CAA Quarterfinals

Hofstra dropped its final two regular season matches, including the final against CAA rival Drexel, to enter the CAA Champioship at 10-8. Along with the setback to Drexel, the Pride downed Delaware and lost to JMU in CAA action. Marcus Smith holds down the No. 1 singles position for Hofstra, going 17-10 overall in singles and 11-6 at the top spot. Coco Haener leads the team with a singles record of 19-8, including a 12-5 dual-match mark. In doubles, Haener and Niko Vulinovich own a 17-5 overall record and a 10-3 mark at No. 1. Smith and Jan Leithner combined to go 13-7 overall and 11-5 in duals with 10 wins at top two positions.
 
#8 Delaware
Series History: W&M leads 8-0
Last Meeting: W&M won 6-1 (3/29/14)
 
Delaware enters the CAA Championship on a five-match winning streak and sporting an overall record of 17-7. The Blue Hens are the No. 8 seed after going 0-3 in CAA play with setbacks to Drexel (4-2), Hofstra (5-2) and JMU (6-1). Blaise Casselbury and Justice Jones lead UD with 13 singles wins on the year, while Curran Verma and Dustin Britton each own 12. Verma plays at the top singles positions for the Blue Hens Justice Jones leads UD with 14 singles wins, including 13 in dual-match play,while Colin Wong is 11-10 at the top three singles posts. In doubles, Wong and Blaise Casselbury are 9-8 at No. 1, while Jones and Curran Verma are 15-10 with nine dual-match wins, mainly at No. 2. Nathan Benyowitz and Laurenz Lankes have won nine-straight matches and are 13-2 in duals, primarily at No. 3 doubles.