WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – In a rivalry steeped in thrillers, senior Chen Ruo added his name to the list of Tribe heroes. Ruo rallied for a come-from-behind three-set singles win to clinch William & Mary men's tennis's 4-3 victory over Old Dominion on Saturday evening at the Millie West Tennis Facility.
 
The Tribe (6-4) claimed a thrilling doubles point thanks to a nationally-ranked win at the No. 2 spot from graduate student Lev Kazakov and senior Sebastian Quiros. Sophomore George Davis (No. 3) and Kazakov (No. 2) notched singles wins to give the Tribe a 3-1 lead, before Old Dominion (8-8) pulled even with victories at No. 1, No. 4 and No. 5.
 
Cue Ruo, who found himself in a 5-2 hole in the third set, to provide the thrilling capper. With both players cramping, the Tribe senior ripped off five-straight games, winning a deuce game to close out a 7-5 win over Oliver Tobisch and ignite a Tribe celebration.
 
It marked the ninth time in the last 14 meetings between the Tribe and ODU that the final score was 4-3. W&M picked up its first win over the Monarchs since 2014.
 
How It Happened
- The Tribe took the doubles point with wins at the top two positions. Graduate student Brenden Volk and Davis upended Jannik Giesse and Younes Lalami, 6-3, at No. 1. The Tribe duo won its second in a row, improving to 5-4 on the year.
- After ODU won at No. 3, Kazakov and Quiros gave the Tribe a 1-0 win with their first win as a team. The Tribe tandem upset the No. 43-ranked team of Luca Maldoner and Nicola Vidal, 7-5, at the No. 2 spot.
- Davis pushed the Tribe lead to 2-0 with a win at No. 3. The Tribe sophomore jumped to a 5-3 lead over Gisse in the opening set, before the ODU player was forced to retire due to injury. Davis won for the third time in his last four matches, upping his mark to 5-4 overall and 3-1 on line three.
- After a win at No. 1 got the Monarchs on the scoreboard, Kazakov extended the Tribe cushion to 3-1 with a straight-sets win on line two. He upended Nicola Vidal, 6-3, 6-4, for his fourth win in the last five matches. Kazakov pushed his mark to 6-2 at No. 2.
- Old Dominion posted a win at No. 5 and the balance of the match came down to three-set contests at No. 4 and No. 6.
- Younes Lalami pulled ODU even a three with a three-set win over senior Finbar Talcott at No. 4. The Monarch player won the opening set, 6-2, before Talcott responded with a tiebreaker win in the second. Lalami claimed the match with a 6-4 win in the third.
- At No. 6, ODU's Oliver Tobisch jumped out to a set advantage, winning the first, 6-3. Ruo answered with a tiebreaker victory in the second. Tobisch jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the third, but with both players cramping, the Tribe senior reeled off five straight games to secure the win. It marked the first win of the season for Ruo and the 26th of his career.
 
Up Next
The Tribe returns to action next week with a pair of trips to Richmond on back-to-back days. W&M heads to Richmond on Wednesday, April 14, for a 5 p.m. match, before traveling to VCU on Thursday, April 15. The Tribe-Rams match-up starts at 3 p.m.
 
William & Mary 4, Old Dominion 3
Singles
No. 1 - Luca Maldoner (ODU) def. Brenden Volk (W&M) – 6-2, 6-3
No. 2 – Lev Kazakov (W&M) def. Nicola Vidal (ODU) – 6-3, 6-4
No. 3 – George Davis (W&M) def. Jannik Giesse (ODU) – 5-3, retire
No. 4 –Younes Lalami (ODU) def. Finbar Talcott (W&M) – 6-2, 6-7, 6-4
No. 5 – Francois Le Tallec (ODU) def. Sebastian Quiros (W&M) – 6-4, 7-5
No. 6 – Chen Ruo (W&M) def. Oliver Tobisch (ODU) – 3-6, 7-6, 7-5
Finishing Order: 3, 1, 2, 5, 4, 6*
 
Doubles
No. 1 – Davis/Volk (W&M) def. Giesse/Lalami (ODU) – 6-3
No. 2 – Kazakov/Quiros (W&M) def. #43 Maldoner/Vidal (ODU) – 7-5
No. 3 – Le Tallec/Dolan (ODU) def. Ruo/Talcott (W&M) – 6-3
Finishing Order: 1, 3, 2*