MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Sophomore Brenden Volk and freshman Louis Newman posted singles wins on Sunday afternoon, but No. 45 Middle Tennessee used four tiebreaker decisions between singles and doubles to outdistance the for the William & Mary men's tennis team, 5-2. The Blue Raiders (19-4) used a tiebreaker win at No. 1 to claim the doubles point, before claiming the No. 2 and No. 4 singles spots thanks to tiebreaker victories to close out the Green and Gold (10-8).
 
Volk and freshman Michael Chen gave W&M the early cushion in doubles thanks to their fifth-straight win at No. 3. The Green and Gold duo upended Jan Porteset and Max Rauch, 6-3. After Middle Tennessee won at No. 2 to draw even, the initial point of the match came down to a tiebreaker at the top spot. Chris Edge and Tom Moonen outlasted senior Alec Miller and junior Tristan Bautil in the decisive breaker, 7-6 (2).
 
Newman quickly drew the Tribe even in singles with a victory at the No. 3 spot. The Tribe rookie topped Miguel Negre Fernandez, 6-2, 6-4, for his fifth win of the year on the third line. Newman improved to 16-11 overall, including a 9-7 dual-match mark.
 
After Blue Raider wins at No. 1 and No. 5, the Tribe needed victories at the remaining three positions to pull out the road win. With freshman Finbar Talcott and Volk in third sets at No. 4 and No. 6, Middle Tennessee's Gonzalo Morell Raschiatore squeaked out two tiebreaker sets, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5), to clinch the home team's win, downing Christian Cargill at No. 2.
 
After dropping the opening set, 6-4, to Louis Morilo Diaz, Volk rallied for his second-straight win at the No. 6 post.  The Tribe sophomore responded by taking the final two sets, 6-4, 6-3. Morilo Diaz entered the match at 9-2 in dual-match play.
 
In the final match of the day, Middle Tennessee's Chris Edge rallied for a three-set win at No. 4 over Talcott. The Blue Raider freshman outlasted the Green and Gold rookie a third-set tiebreaker, 7-6 (2), to finalize the Middle Tennessee win.
 
The Tribe wraps up the regular season with a trio of matches next week all in Virginia. The Green and Gold travels to VCU on Wednesday, April 11, at 3 p.m., before hosting Charlotte in its final home match of the year 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. 36 Old Dominion on Sunday, April 15, at 1 p.m.
 
#45 Middle Tennessee 5, William & Mary 2
Singles
No. 1 – Tom Moonen (MT) def. Alec Miller (W&M) – 6-2, 6-2
No. 2 – Gonzalo Morell Raschiatore (MT) def. Christian Cargill (W&M) – 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5)
No. 3 – Louis Newman (W&M) def. Miguel Negre Fernandez (MT) – 6-2, 6-4
No. 4 – Chris Edge (MT) def. Finbar Talcott (W&M) – 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (2)
No. 5 – Gian Issa (MT) def. Sebastian Quiros (W&M) – 7-5, 6-2
No. 6 – Brenden Volk (W&M) def. Louis Morilo Diaz (MT) – 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
Finishing Order: 3, 1, 5, 2*, 6, 4
 
Doubles
No. 1 – Edge/Moonen (MT) def. Bautil/Miller (W&M) – 7-6
No. 2 – Morell Raschiatore/Negre Fernandez (MT) def. Cargill/Newman (W&M) – 6-3
No. 3 – Chen/Volk (W&M) def. Porteset/Rauch (MT) – 6-3
Finishing Order: 3, 2, 1*