WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – William & Mary men's tennis heads to the ITA Atlantic Region Championships this week, Oct. 10-14, in Norfolk, Va., at the Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center.
 
The event starts with the 64-player qualifying singles draw on Thursday at 8:30 a.m. The Tribe has three players competing in the qualifying draw in senior Sean Joseph, sophomore Nikita Bortnichek and freshman Gur Trakhtenberg. Joseph and Bortnichek are the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds, respectively. Two wins earns a competitor a place in the 64-player main singles draw, which starts on Friday.
 
Senior Alexander Karman, junior Albert Hansen, sophomore Oliver Hague, and freshman Raz Katz each received a spot in the main singles draw, which kicks off at 8:30 a.m. on Friday. Hague and Raz are both No. 9-16 seeds at the championships.
 
The main doubles draw also begins on Friday at 2 p.m. The Tribe has a trio of teams competing in the event, including Bortnichek and Karman; Hague and Takhtenberg; and Joseph and Raz. The pairing of Joseph and Raz is a No. 9-16 seed in the tournament.
 
Joining the Tribe in competing at the ITA Atlantic Region Championships are George Mason, Georgetown, Hampton, Howard, James Madison, Liberty, Longwood, Loyola (MD), Morgan State, Mt. St. Mary's, Norfolk State, Old Dominion Radford, Navy, Richmond, Virginia, VCU, and Virginia Tech.
 
As part of a two-year pilot program, the NCAA will host its Singles and Doubles Championships at the conclusion of the fall season. The ITA Regional Championships are one of four ways for players to qualify for the NCAA Individual Championships. Two singles finalists from each region will qualify for the NCAA Singles Championship, while the doubles champion from each region will qualify for the NCAA Doubles Championship.
 
Here is a look at the Tribe's schedule over the opening two days of the ITA Atlantic Region Championships:
 
Thursday, Oct. 10
Qualifying Singles Draw First Round
#4 Nikita Bortnichek (W&M) vs. Jake Young (Navy) – 8:30 AM
#3 Sean Joseph (W&M) vs. Akarsh Gaonkar (Mt. St. Mary's) – 8:30 AM
Gur Trakhtenberg (W&M) vs. Niza Simunyola (GMU) – 10 AM
 
Friday, Oct. 11
Main Singles Draw First Round
Albert Hansen (W&M) vs. #8 Codie Van Schalwyk (ODU) – 8:30 AM
#9-16 Oliver Hague (W&M) vs. TBD – 8:30 AM  
Alexander Karman (W&M) vs. #7 Maxime St-Hilaire (VT) – 11:30 AM  
#9-16 Raz Katz (W&M) vs. TBD – 11:30 AM  
 
Main Doubles Draw First Round (64)
#9-16 Joseph/Katz (W&M) vs. Dieng/Major (Howard) – 2 PM
Karman/Bortnichek (W&M) vs. Armbrister/Arora (Hampton) – 2 PM
Hague/Trakhtenberg (W&M) vs. Agusti/Schmitt (JMU) – 2 PM