WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - The William & Mary men's tennis team heads to the 2019 Colonial Athletic Association Championship as the event's No. 3 seed. The Green and Gold takes on No. 6 seed Drexel at 1 p.m., on Thursday, April 18, at the Burlington Tennis Center.

Elon University is the host of the 2018 CAA Championship at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center and the Burlington Tennis Center. The CAA semifinals are set for Friday, April 19, with the championship to follow on Saturday, April 21. Both rounds are scheduled for 10 a.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 Tribe meets Drexel in the CAA Championship for the fourth-straight seasons. In fact, each of the teams' meetings all-time have come in the CAA Championship. W&M has downed the Drexel, 4-0, in each contest.
- W&M enters the CAA Tournament having won three of its last six matches. During the stretch, the Tribe defeated DePaul (4-3), George Washington (7-0) and East Carolina (4-1).
- Most recently, the Tribe suffered a 6-1 setback to Old Dominion on April 14.
- Junior Brenden Volk and sophomore Chen Run closed the season with an upset win over the No. 18-ranked doubles team in the country from ODU. The victory secured the tandem's second CAA Doubles Team of the Week honor.
- Volk and Chen own three wins over nationally-ranked competition this season, including a pair of top-25 wins, and six victories overall.
- In singles, Volk has come on strong for W&M, winning five of his last seven matches, including both tilts against Charlotte and Old Dominion at the No. 3 spot last week.
- Sophomore Finbar Talcott, who went 2-0 at last year's CAA Championship, clinched both W&M victories over East Carolina and DePaul with wins at the No. 3 spot. He owns 12 wins on the year, including six at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions.
- Sophomore Sebastian Qurios leads W&M with 18 singles wins and seven in dual-match play. He is 3-3 at the top singles spot among his seven dual-match victories.
- Along with Volk and Ruo, the Tribe's team of senior Tristan Bautil and freshman Oren Vasser received the CAA Doubles Team of the Week on Feb. 27. The duo is 5-1 at the No. 2 spot.
- Four of the Tribe's losses this season have come to teams currently in the national top 50, including No. 3 Florida, No. 5 Virginia, No. 34 Penn State and No. 47 Virginia Tech. Another four teams in which the Tribe suffered setbacks to also earned a national top-50 ranking during the 2019 season (Middle Tennessee Penn, Princeton and Louisville).
- The Tribe played five matches against major conference opponents in 2019. By comparison, the remaining seven teams in the CAA played a total of seven.
- On Feb. 26, the quartet of freshmen Jack Kelly and Daniel Pellerito and sophomores Chen Ruo and Sebastian Quiros joined a W&M-record 164 Provost Awards for the 2018-19 school year. The Provost Awards, now in their 16th year, recognize athletes who have a cumulative GPA of over 3.5 in their careers.
 
Post-Seasoned Head Coach
W&M head coach Jeff Kader, who is in the fourth 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 three seasons at the helm, the Tribe is 5-3 in the CAA Championship, including title match appearances each of the last two seasons.
 
W&M's Record in the CAA Tournament

All-Time Record	42-30
Quarterfinals	22-4
Semifinals	12-12
Championship	2-10
CAA Championships: 4 (1987, 1990, 2005, 2015)

* 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. Last season, W&M advanced to the championship match of the league tournament for the second-straight year. As the No. 1 seed, the Green and Gold posted 4-0 wins over Delaware in the quarterfinals and Drexel in the semifinals, before falling to No. 3-seeded UNCW, 4-2, in the championship match. In their first CAA events, Finbar Talcott and Brenden Volk went 2-0 in singles action at the No. 5 and No. 6 spots. Volk clinched the win over Drexel and posted one of the Tribe's two singles wins in the championship match. In doubles, W&M claimed the initial point of the match against both the Dragons and Blue Hens. Volk and Chen Ruo tallied wins at the No. 2 doubles spot against both teams. 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	1-4
Sebastian Quiros	1-1	0-0
Chen Ruo	0-0	2-1
Finbar Talcott	2-0	0-0
Brenden Volk	2-0	2-1

CAA Championship Schedule
Thursday, April 18 - Quarterfinals – Burlington Tennis Center
Match #1 – 9 a.m. – #1 UNCW vs. #8 Delaware – Live Stats
Match #2 – 9 a.m. – #4 James Madison vs. #5 Charleston – Live Stats
Match #3 – 1 p.m.  – #2 Elon vs. #7 Hofstra – Live Stats
Match #4 – 1 p.m. – #3 W&M vs. #6 Drexel – Live Stats

Friday, April 19 - 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

Saturday, April 20 - 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 …
 
Scouting No. 1 UNCW
Series History – W&M leads 22-6
Last Meeting – UNCW won 4-3 in 2018 CAA Championship at Elon (4/22/18)
 
- The Seahawks are 10-10 on the year, including a 3-0 mark against the CAA. UNCW was ranked as high as No. 47 nationally in February.
- All three UNCW CAA wins and eight of their 10 victories have come at home. Wilmington topped Elon (6-1), Drexel (7-0) and James Madison (5-2) during the regular season.
- Junior Austin Hussey is 11-5 at the top three singles positions, including a 5-3 mark at No. 1, while senior Agustin Savarino tallied six wins at top two spots. Freshman Bruno Caula is a team-best 12-3 in dual-match play, competing at high as No. 4 in the lineup.
- UNCW has claimed the doubles point in seven of its 19 matches. Junior Michael Copeland and freshman Cole Groetsch are 5-4 at No. 1 doubles, while Caula and Savarino are 3-1 on line two.
- The Seahawks have won six of the last 10 CAA Championships, including each of the last two.
 
Scouting No. 2 Elon
Series History – W&M leads 5-3
Last Meeting – Elon won 6-1 at Elon (3/10/19)
 
- Elon enters the CAA Championship on a seven-match win streak with an 18-4 record.
- The Phoenix went 3-1 in CAA play with victories over JMU (7-0), W&M (6-1) and Charleston (6-1). Elon's lone setback was to top-seeded UNCW, 6-1.
- Seniors comprise the top three positions in the Elon singles lineup. Felipe Sarrasague, who is ranked No. 96 nationally, leads the way at 14-4 at No. 1 followed by Mario Paccini, who is 11-9 at the top two post.
- Felipe Osses-Konig owns a 17-4 singles record playing primarily at No. 3. Sophomore Kyle Frankel posted an impressive 17-3 mark primarily at No. 4.
- Elon has won the doubles point in 12 of its 22 matches, including five of the last six.
- Paccini and Sarrasague own a 7-1 record at No. 1 doubles, while sophomores Kyle Frankel and Camilo Ponce are 9-4 primarily on line two.
 
Scouting No. 4 James Madison
Series History – W&M leads 32-15
Last Meeting – W&M won 7-0 at W&M (3/17/18)
 
- James Madison enters the CAA Championship on a three-match win streak and owns a 16-7 record.
- The Dukes went 3-2 against the CAA with wins over Drexel (5-2), Delaware (4-3) and Charleston (5-2). Their losses came to the tournament's top two seeds in UNCW (5-2) and Elon (7-0).
- Senior Pierre Kohler owns eight wins at the No. 1 singles position, while sophomore Alvaro Arce is 17-14 overall, including a 9-7 mark at No. 2.
- Junior Paul Mendoza tallied a 20-10 singles record, including a 13-5 mark on line three, while classmate Damon Roberts posted a 19-13 ledger, including a 12-7 dual-match record playing as high as No. 2. 
- JMU won the doubles point in 14 of its 23 matches.
- Arce and Kohler lead the way in doubles at 16-9 overall with an 8-6 mark at No. 1. Mendoza and junior Tate Steinhour own a 13-6 overall doubles record with a 7-1 ledger at the top two positions. 
 
Scouting No. 5 Charleston
Series History – Charleston leads 5-4
Last Meeting – W&M won 4-1 in 2015 CAA Championship (4/19/15)
 
- Charleston enters the CAA Championship at 18-4 on the year. CofC posted a pair of eight-match win streaks during the season.
- The Cougars went 1-2 in CAA play with a win over Drexel (5-2) and losses to Elon (6-1) and JMU (5-2).
- Senior Benedikt Henning led CofC with a 16-3 singles ledger at the No. 1 position.
- Freshman Ben Cawston and Johnny Wang turned in strong rookie campaigns. Cawston was 14-5 in dual-match play between the No. 2 and No. 3 positions, while Wang tallied a 15-7 mark playing at No. 3 and No. 4.
- In doubles, Benedikt and Wang own a 13-2 record at the No. 2 spot, while Cawston and freshman Robby Krick compiled a 14-1 doubles record with 10 wins at No. 3.
 
Scouting No. 6 Drexel
Series History – W&M leads 4-0
Last Meeting – W&M won 4-0 in 2018 CAA Semifinals (4/21/18)
 
- Drexel won three of its final four regular-season matches and enters the championship at 11-9 overall.
- The Dragons went 2-2 in CAA play with wins over Hofstra (4-3) and Delaware (6-1) and losses to UNCW (7-0) and JMU (5-2).
- Senior Sinan Orhon is Drexel's all-time leader in singles and doubles victories. He owns 15 singles wins on the year with seven at the top spot.
- Sophomore Sanil Jagtiani leads the Dragons with a 23-13 singles record and is 14-9 in dual-match play at positions No. 2-4.
- Orhon and freshman Gustav Wogen are 10-6 at No. 1 doubles, while junior Youssef Lahlo and freshman Juan Manuel Sanchez are 12-3 at No. 3.
 
Scouting No. 7 Hofstra
Series History – W&M leads 2-0
Last Meeting – UNCW won 4-0 in 2015 CAA Quarterfinals (4/17/15)
 
- Hofstra enters the CAA Championship at 13-7 on the year, including a 1-1 CAA mark.
- The Pride dropped a 4-3 decision to Drexel and topped Delaware, 4-3, to close out the regular season.
- Senior Marcus Smith holds down the top singles spot for the Pride. He is 22-15 overall and 13-7 at No. 1.
- Freshman Shawn Jackson leads Hofstra with a 27-11 overall record, including a 12-5 at No. 2.
- In doubles, the Pride captured the initial point of the match in 12 of its 20 contests.
- Senior Coco Haener and Jackson compiled a 21-6 doubles record. They were 15-5 in dual-match play, including a 10-5 mark at No. 1.
- Senior Jan Leithner and Smith own a 21-12 doubles record, including an 11-4 dual-match mark. The pair is 6-3 at No. 2.
 
Scouting No. 8 Delaware
Series History – W&M leads 9-0
Last Meeting – W&M won 4-0 in 2018 CAA Quarterfinals (4/20/18)
 
- Delaware is 14-13 on the year but have lost six of its last seven matches.
- The Blue Hens are 0-3 in CAA play with losses to Hofstra (4-3), Drexel (6-1) and James Madison (4-3).
- Freshman James Wilkinson owns 11 wins at the No. 1 singles position.
- Fellow rookie Luis Molina leads UD with a 19-12 singles record, including a 12-7 mark at No. 2.
- The Blue Hens claimed the doubles point in 15 of their 27 matches, including each of the last four.
- Molina and Wilkinson lead the way in doubles at 11-4 at the top spot.